Chase Sapphire Cards: What Counts As Dining Purchases?

Both the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® are considered one of the best travel credit cards in the market! The Sapphire Reserve® lets you earn 3X points on all travel and dining purchases worldwide, while the Sapphire Preferred® earns 2X for the same purchases!

If you’re interested in both of these cards, you already know that Chase’s definition for travel includes parking fees and Airbnb bookings. But do you know how they define dining purchases? Continue reading below to learn more on what’s considered to be a dining purchase and what’s not!

Chase Sapphire Cards

The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase TravelSM. You'll earn • 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. • 3x points on other travel and dining • 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel. This card does carry a $550 annual fee and there are no foreign transaction fees. However, you're able to earn a $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year & up to $120 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre?®. Member FDIC Click here to learn how to apply

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You'll earn: • 5x on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM • 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries • 2x on all other travel purchases • 1x on all other purchases • $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit • Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027. Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase TravelSM This card carries a $95 annual fee. Click here to learn how to apply

Chase’s Definition of Restaurants

How does Chase define what qualifies as a restaurant purchase for the Sapphire cards?

Merchants in the restaurant category are merchants whose primary business is sit-down or eat-in dining, including fast food restaurants as well as fine dining establishments.

Meaning you can earn bonus points on your purchases from Starbucks or Chipotle to a Michelin-star restaurant.

However this is what Chase doesn’t consider as dining:

Please note that merchants that sell food and drinks within larger merchants such as sports stadiums, hotels and casinos, theme parks, grocery and department stores will not be included in this category unless the merchant has set up purchases to be classified in a restaurant category. In addition, gift card and delivery service merchants will not be included in this category unless the merchant has set up such purchases to be classified in the restaurant category.

So select food delivery services, like Postmates, doesn’t qualify as a restaurant dining, as well as any grocery store purchases made.

What counts as dining?

The list below are examples of what Chase counts as dining:

* Also includes delivery services like Caviar, Eat24, Grubhub, Seamless. Does not include Postmates.

What doesn’t count as dining?

The following does not count as dining:

Bottom Line

Just like the travel purchase category, Chase’s definition of what counts as a dining purchase is quite broad for both cards. If you’re a Chase Sapphire cardholder, make sure to double check with the list above to get the opportunity to earn up to 3X Ultimate Rewards Points with your dining purchases.

If you’re interested in Chase, you can check out the Best Chase Credit Cards and the latest Chase Bank promotions here to learn more about what they can offer! However, if you’re not interested with the Sapphire credit card or would like to look elsewhere, check out our Best Credit Cards and credit card reviews to see which card fits your needs the most!

Huntington Bank Promotions for April 2025: $100, $400, $1,000 Checking Bonuses – Ends 6/9/25

CIT Bank Promotions April 2025: $225, $300 Bonus + Up to 4.10% Platinum Savings, Savings Connect, CD Rates

Chase Total Checking $300 Bonus – Ends 7/16/25

• 1
• 2
• 3
• …
• 9
• ›