Monday, January 24, 2011

This Matchmaker Saves You Money on Dining Out During Your Vacation

Matchmaking is big on the internet. Even if you’re not looking to meet your potential significant other, you’ve likely heard of companies like Match.com and eHarmony. But are you aware that there is a “matchmaker” between restaurants and consumers that can save you money on your dining out bills?

That’s more or less what Restaurant.com bills itself as. They are a marketer for restaurants and can help you reduce your cost for a night out!

The premise is simple. Find a participating restaurant on their website and purchase a $25 gift certificate for $10. Better yet, purchase the certificate during one of their many 60, 70 or even 80% off sales. Unless you’re in a hurry, waiting a day or two could reduce the cost of that “$25 gift certificate” all the way down to $2 which is exactly what I did a few months ago before a trip to Fort Lauderdale! The gift certificates do come with stipulations, but they are reasonable.

On my visit, I knew we were going to The Roasted Pepper, a favorite restaurant of friends of mine whom I was visiting. I went to Restaurant.com, loaded the zip code into their search engine and was very pleased to see that the restaurant of my choice was listed! Because there was an 80% off sale, I could purchase the $25 gift certificate for only $2. The only "catch" was that we had to spend a minimum of $40. No problem. I couldn’t imagine that we wouldn’t spend $40 and, if we really were a few dollars short, we could pick up a little dessert or appetizer for my friends to take home and still come out ahead.

While at it, I decided to check to see if there were certificates for any close-by hotels for clients who were going to stay at the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel the night before boarding Celebrity Solstice the following week. I found that there was a $25 gift certificate for the hotel’s Bistro 17 restaurant! Only $2 to save $25 with the only stipulation being that you had to buy at least two entrees. Not a problem since four people were traveling! Needless to say, our client was happy to hear about this unexpected tip!

Check this site out the next time you’ll be visiting a restaurant whether it's during a trip or locally.  And while you're enjoying your dinner, toast Connie George Travel Associates, the vacation specialists dedicated to delivering value and service!

~ Connie

1 comment:

  1. Great tip Connie. The Roasted Pepper is an excellent restaurant. It is Italian food at its finest. Great service and great food. Those certificates came in handy as well. I will us restaurant.com whenever eatting out.

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete

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