Capital One Adds Priority OpenTable Reservations

There’s huge competition among card issuers to add benefits that are compelling for consumers. This has largely consisted of bigger and bigger bonus categories for spending, though in some cases it has also consisted of offering experiences that people may not otherwise have access to.

Capital One might not have the biggest bonus categories of any card issuers, but they have done a good job with introducing unique partnerships that add value for cardmembers.

Along those lines, Capital One has just announced a new partnership, which replaces one that they cut a while ago.

Capital One Used To Partner With Resy

At the beginning of 2019, Capital One and Resy introduced a new partnership, giving Capital One cardmembers access to exclusive dining experiences.

That didn’t last long, though, as American Express acquired Resy a few months later, and not surprisingly that spelled the end of the Capital One partnership. With the partnership with Resy having been cut, Capital One found a replacement.

New Capital One & OpenTable Partnership

Capital One & OpenTable are launching a new partnership as of today, November 19, 2019. OpenTable is even significantly bigger than Resy.

With this new partnership, Capital One credit cardholders will have access to book exclusive reservations for weekend dining at some of the top restaurants in 15+ cities across the US through the OpenTable app.

What Cities Have Eligible Restaurants?

This partnership initially includes restaurants in the following cities:

• Atlanta
• Austin
• Boston
• Chicago
• Dallas
• Denver
• Houston
• Las Vegas
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• New Orleans
• New York City
• Philadelphia
• Portland
• Richmond
• San Francisco
• Seattle
• Washington

You can find the full list of participating restaurants here.

Here are some of the examples of participating restaurants:

Examples of participating restaurants include: Boka and Girl & the Goat in Chicago, Republique, Here’s Looking At You and the NoMad Restaurant in Los Angeles, Brennan’s and Shaya in New Orleans, The Loyal, Daniel and La Esquina in New York City, Delfina Restaurant, International Smoke and the Slanted Door in San Francisco, Bresca and Kith/Kin in Washington D.C. and many more.

How Do You Book A Table Through This Partnership?

To book a Premium Access reservation, Capital One cardholders should take the following steps:

1. Download the OpenTable App or update to the latest version
2. Find the “Premium Access” carousel on the home screen or visit www.opentable.com/capitalone to browse participating restaurants
3. Click verify to unlock the table
4. Book a table for two or four at prime dining times

This Will Be Expanded To OpenTable VIPs As Well

As of January 2020, OpenTable plans to expand these Premium Access reservations to their VIP diners. Qualifying diners will be able to redeem their OpenTable Dining Points to book prime time reservations at participating restaurants.

Capital One credit cardholders will continue to enjoy access to Premium Access reservations without needing to redeem any OpenTable Dining Points to book.

The Best Capital One Cards For Dining

This dining partnership is interesting, given that Capital One doesn’t have that many cards offering a bonus category on dining.

The best Capital One card for dining is the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card (review), which has a $95 annual fee that’s waived for the first year, and offers unlimited 4% cash back on dining, entertainment, and popular streaming services, 3% at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®), and 1% on all other purchases.

If you’d prefer a no annual fee version of the card, consider the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card (Rates & Fees), which offers 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services & at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®), and 1% back on all other purchases.

While those are the best Capital One cards for dining, there are some other great Capital One cards.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees) carries a $95 annual fee and earns 2x miles per dollar spent. Those can be redeemed for one cent towards the cost of a travel purchase, or can be converted into airline miles and hotel points through transfer partners.

The Capital One Spark Miles for Business (review) (Rates & Fees) is also an incredible card, and has a $95 annual fee that’s waived for the first year. With this card you can earn 2x Spark miles per dollar spent.

Bottom Line

This is a nice new benefit for Capital One cardmembers, though obviously it will only be useful for those in eligible cities. I could see this coming in handy, assuming that the access to reservations is actually significantly better.

What do you make of this new Capital One & OpenTable partnership?