Did you know that you can get neat rewards like gift cards to restaurants or retailers just for using your official government travel card?
Under the new Defense Department (DoD) Dine Smart Traveler Rewards program, travelers can earn points for every dollar spent dining at participating restaurants while on official travel. Delivery and takeout food are also eligible for the program. These points can be redeemed for gift cards that can be used any time at participating restaurants and retailers.
The DoD has partnered with Dinova, a restaurant network of over 20,000 restaurants to offer this new benefit. Enrolling is free and totally voluntary. However, if you don't enroll, you can't get the points.
To enroll in the program, just go to dod.dinova.com and register your government travel card, then every time you use your card for dining at a participating restaurant while on official travel you will earn points. You don't need to show any ID or membership card to get the benefits.
Another benefit of enrolling in the program is the Dinova app. Anyone who has traveled before knows it can sometimes be difficult to find a good place to eat after you've been working all day in a strange town, or when you get to your hotel after a long day of traveling. The Dinova app lets you find participating restaurants at your travel location. You can even search for different types of food or dietary preferences, and now the app includes information like mask and social distance requirements, contactless payment availability and take out or delivery options. Want sushi in Seattle or tacos in Tucson? The app will help you find them and give you rewards for eating more than you probably should.
The app is DISA approved for download on DoD issued devices.
Also, when you use your travel card to dine at participating restaurants the DoD earns a rebate which goes directly to support travel budgets, so eat up, your future travel may depend on it.
Stay on Top of Your Military Benefits
Military benefits are always changing. Keep up with everything from pay to health care by subscribing to Military.com, and get access to up-to-date pay charts and more with all latest benefits delivered straight to your inbox.
