How Everyday Dining Can Help Fund Your Next Trip
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Written by
Jasmin Baron, CCC™
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Edited by
Antonio Ruiz-Camacho
You don’t have to step onto an airplane or into a hotel room to earn travel rewards. In fact, some of the most consistent opportunities to rack up points happen at restaurants, coffee shops and other places you visit long before you start dreaming of that bucket-list vacation.
That’s worth remembering when you’re choosing a travel credit card. A card that rewards only your occasional airfare or hotel purchases is a bit of a one-trick pony, and may not give you opportunities to earn throughout the year. But a card that earns extra rewards on everyday spending, like dining, can help you build a travel rewards balance even when your next trip is far away.
Your Dinner Could Be Working Toward Your Next Vacation
Dining is a regular expense for many households, whether it’s a Saturday night out, lunch with coworkers or takeout on a night when cooking feels like a burden. When you put those purchases on a card that offers a dining bonus, they can become another way to earn travel rewards.
The Navy Federal Credit Union Flagship Premier Visa Signature® Credit Card , for example, earns 3x points on eligible restaurant purchases.1 That means a $50 eligible restaurant purchase would earn 150 points, while a $100 purchase would earn 300 points. Those points can add up over time without requiring you to spend extra money simply to earn rewards.
That said, you should never dine out just to earn credit card points. But if eating at restaurants is already part of your budget, earning bonus rewards on those purchases can turn an existing expense into progress toward a future trip.
Dining Rewards Don’t Require a Separate Travel Strategy
One advantage of earning travel rewards through dining is that you don’t have to wait until you’re traveling to use your travel credit card. You can earn rewards while grabbing your morning latte, taking your kids through the drive-thru on busy sports nights, or meeting friends and family for a well-deserved meal out on the weekend. That can make a dining bonus category particularly handy for travelers who don’t fly or book hotels frequently enough to accumulate rewards quickly through travel purchases alone.
And because the NFCU Flagship Premier Card also earns 4x points on eligible travel purchases,1 your rewards can continue accumulating when you actually take the trip. Eligible travel purchases generally include airlines, hotels, car rentals, cruises, transit, taxis, bus lines, parking and timeshares. Purchases must be coded as eligible travel transactions to earn the bonus rate.
Not Every Restaurant Purchase Will Earn Bonus Points
Here’s an important detail that can get lost when you’re comparing rewards rates: Credit card issuers generally rely on merchant category codes to determine whether a purchase qualifies for a bonus category. With the Flagship Premier Card, eligible restaurant purchases earn 3x points, but a restaurant located inside another establishment — such as a casino, grocery store or event venue — may not receive a restaurant code. In that case, the purchase could earn the card’s 1x base rate instead.1
The same principle applies to travel purchases. A purchase must be coded correctly to receive the applicable bonus rate. The Flagship Premier Card often categorizes travel purchases more generously than many competitors, making this detail especially important if you’re choosing a credit card based on bonus categories.
Your Rewards Can Travel With You
Once you’ve earned your points, you don’t necessarily have to use them for a specific type of travel. With the Flagship Premier Card, you can redeem points for cash back, travel, gift cards and more. That flexibility means you’re not locked into a specific travel program or redemption strategy. If you want to use your rewards to help offset the cost of a future trip, you can. If you don’t have travel plans and would rather redeem them for cash back or another option, you have that choice.
New cardholders can also earn a limited-time welcome offer: You can earn 50k points when you spend $4,000 within the first 90 days of opening. Offer valid for accounts applied for between 10/1/2026 and 01/03/2027.2 That can provide an additional boost to your balance early on, though the card’s ongoing earning structure matters more for long-term value.
Small Rewards Can Become a Bigger Travel Fund
The appeal of a dining rewards category isn’t that one restaurant bill will pay for your next vacation. It’s that the rewards can accumulate in the background as you spend money you were already going to spend.
For example, if you make a $75 eligible restaurant purchase, earning 3x would give you 225 points. Do that repeatedly throughout the year, and those everyday purchases can add up to a meaningful rewards balance.
Add rewards from travel purchases and other eligible spending, and you have multiple ways to build points without having to overhaul your budget. The trick is to think of credit card rewards as a byproduct of spending you were already going to do, rather than a reason to spend more.
If you regularly dine out and want an easy way to earn travel rewards between trips, a card that rewards dining can turn an everyday expense into progress toward the next adventure.
1Flagship Premier Visa Signature® Credit Cards earn 4 points for every $1 of eligible purchases made on travel, 3 points for every $1 of eligible purchases made at restaurants (dining), and 1 point for every $1 of other eligible purchases. Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services, minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do not include fees, interest charges, balance transfers, gambling, convenience checks, cash advances, or other cash-equivalents (e.g., money orders, gift cards, prepaid cards). Merchants are assigned codes by payment networks based on what they primarily sell. We rely on this information to identify travel and restaurant purchases. Travel is typically coded as airline, hotel, car rental, bus lines, taxis, cruise lines, time shares, parking, rideshare, and transit. A travel or restaurant purchase may only earn 1 point per dollar spent, depending on the code used to process the transaction. If the purchase is not identified as a travel or restaurant purchase, it will receive 1 point per dollar spent. For example, purchases made at restaurants within another establishment (e.g., casino, grocery store, event venue) may not be assigned a restaurant code, which means they will only receive 1 point per dollar spent. For more information, view the Program Description for the Flagship Premier Card.
2Offer valid for members who apply for a new Flagship Premier account between 10/1/2026 and 01/03/2027 and are approved. To earn the 50k bonus points, you must make at least $4k in eligible purchases within 90 days of account opening. Eligible purchases include purchases of goods and services, minus returns and credits, and exclude fees, interest, balance transfers, gambling, convenience checks, cash advances, and cash equivalent transactions (e.g., money orders, gift cards, prepaid cards, person to person money transfers). Bonus points will post within eight weeks after the 90 day period. Your account must be open and not in default at the time the bonus points are scheduled to post. Limit of one promotional offer at account opening. Offer may change or end without notice.
