We were staying at the Renaissance New York Midtown, on 35th Street, and were looking for somewhere nearby for dinner. I already had a balance in the inKind app, so checking its restaurant map was part of choosing where to eat. Mercato Trattoria Bar, on West 39th Street, was among the available options.

The resulting payment was straightforward: $125.50 came out of my inKind Cash balance, and a $24 tip went onto my Amex. The overall economics depended on an earlier transaction: I had bought the dining credit at a discount and timed that purchase to earn six Citi ThankYou points per dollar, reducing its effective cost further.

This case study follows those dollars from the original purchase through to the restaurant payment. It also explains why the 20% back advertised on Mercato’s inKind listing contributed nothing to this particular calculation.

inKind lets customers pay at participating restaurants through its app. One option is to charge eligible spending to a linked credit card and earn inKind Cash Back for a subsequent visit. Another is to buy inKind Cash in advance, usually through a promotion that provides more dining credit than the amount paid.

I had used the second route, buying $1500 of inKind Cash for $999 during an earlier promotion. Before credit-card rewards, that meant paying 66.6 cents for each dollar of dining credit, a 33.4% discount on its face value.

I timed the purchase to coincide with Citi Nights on my Citi Strata Elite. This $999 purchase earned the six-point restaurant rate, producing 5994 ThankYou (“TY”) points. At my working valuation of 1.5 cents per point, that was worth $89.91: an effective 9% rebate on the already discounted purchase price. This was the earning rate on my purchase; it should not be assumed for every future inKind top-up.

The two benefits apply to different amounts. The inKind promotion reduced the price of $1500 in dining credit to $999, while the card return applied to the $999 I actually paid.

After accounting for those Citi ThankYou points, each dollar of inKind Cash cost approximately 60.6 cents. That was a 39.4% effective discount on the dining credit’s face value.

This was the promotion I purchased, not necessarily the offer that is available today. The same calculation can be applied to another offer, using its purchase price and the card rewards actually earned.

The restaurant search provided a useful reminder to check the app before making plans. Some nearby restaurants recommended to me as inKind options did not appear when I searched the app.

Mercato did appear. Its location suited our stay, and its Italian menu gave us a nearby dinner option. The app also displayed “20% back” prominently on the restaurant’s page.

We had wine and antipasti in what was a cozy Italian neighborhood restaurant, just the sort of meal we were looking for. The prepaid balance provided a useful way to pay for an ordinary evening out.

At the end of dinner, I opened Mercato’s page in the app and used the Pay Bill option. The bill came to $125.50 after tax. I added a $24 tip, calculated as 20% of the $120 food-and-drink subtotal, bringing the total payment to $149.50.

The payment was divided between my existing inKind Cash and the Amex stored in the app. The balance covered the $125.50 restaurant bill; the $24 gratuity was charged separately to the card because inKind Cash cannot be used for tips.

The confirmation screen showed the full $149.50 as settled and instructed me to show it to the server. The email receipt recorded the same split: $125.50 deducted from the balance and $24 charged to the card.

The 20% displayed on Mercato’s listing was a separate way of earning value through inKind. Under the terms, eligible spending charged to a credit card through the app can earn inKind Cash Back for future use. Spending covered by an existing inKind Cash balance does not earn that additional return, and neither do gratuities, fees or service charges.

My restaurant bill was covered entirely by prepaid inKind Cash. The only new card charge was the tip, so neither part qualified for the advertised 20% back.

The discount on my meal had already been established when I purchased the inKind Cash balance. Someone funding the eligible restaurant bill directly with a card would be using a different payment route, with its own economics.

There is also a distinction between the rewards themselves. inKind Cash Back is credit for a subsequent visit, whereas the Citi and Amex rewards in this calculation are transferable points valued at my usual working rates.

I allocated the effective acquisition cost proportionately across the $1500 balance. That gives each dollar redeemed the same cost, assuming I eventually use the entire balance.

The $125.50 deducted at Mercato therefore represented:

$125.50 × $909.09 ÷ $1500 = $76.06

The dinner was on a Wednesday, outside the Citi Nights earning window, so I paid the tip with my Amex Gold. At four Membership Rewards points per dollar, the $24 Amex charge earned 96 points. Valued at 1.5 cents each, those points contributed $1.44, reducing the effective cost of the tip to $22.56.

That brings the effective cost of the dinner to $98.62. The original inKind promotion provided the largest benefit, the purchase timed for Citi Nights improved it, and the Amex points earned on the tip added a final $1.44.

The effective reduction on the complete dinner was lower than the 39.4% discount on the dining credit because the tip was paid separately. It did receive the card rewards but didn’t receive any of the discount embedded in the prepaid balance.

These figures compare the effective cost with the actual restaurant bill. Paying the restaurant directly with a rewards card would also have earned points. The $50.88 difference therefore measures the reduction from the restaurant bill, rather than the additional saving over another card payment.

Allocating the discount across individual meals assumes the entire purchased balance is eventually used. That deserves attention because inKind’s terms distinguish between the amount paid and the promotional credit added to it. The paid portion does not expire, while the promotional portion expires three years after purchase. The paid portion is used first.

For my $999 purchase, the $501 promotional portion therefore comes after the paid credit in the redemption order. Allocating the discount evenly across meals is a way of accounting for the purchase; it does not mean the app deducts proportional shares of paid and promotional credit at each dinner. Leaving some of the balance unused would worsen the realized result.

For someone visiting the United States periodically, that makes restaurant coverage relevant before committing money. The credit needs to fit the places you will visit and the meals you want to buy. A favorable purchase price becomes less useful if spending the balance requires repeated detours or changes to the trip.

The live restaurant map is consequently part of the decision both before buying credit and before using it. The terms also allow restaurant restrictions and blackout periods, so I would check the intended venue rather than assume an older recommendation remains usable.

At Mercato, the balance fitted an ordinary evening near our hotel. The bill was paid through the app, the gratuity was charged separately at the amount I selected, and the confirmation and email receipt documented both parts.

The $149.50 dinner had an effective cost of $98.62 using the original purchase economics and my working points valuations. Timing the purchase for Citi Nights contributed to that result alongside the discounted dining credit. Realizing the same value across the full purchase depends on using the remaining balance at restaurants that suit our subsequent trips.

New to inKind? ⁠My referral link offers new members $25 off a qualifying meal of $50 or more. It cannot be combined with another inKind balance or offer. I receive inKind Cash Back after a qualifying payment; the referral reward varies with current promotions.

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