From airport lounges to concert tickets to Friday night dinner reservations, credit cards these days are less about paying for life’s finer things and more about getting access to them.
What happened: American Express is buying European restaurant booking platform TheFork for US$700 million, adding to a portfolio that already includes the popular reservation systems Resy and Tock. With TheFork’s restaurants, Amex says it now has a network of over 75,000 dining venues.
Why it matters: Restaurants were the No. 1 spending category for young people last year. In an era where social media can make tables at buzzy spots impossible to book, priority access through Amex or other credit cards has become a cultural currency that a lot of folks are happy to pay for.
Canadian Amex holders spent an average of nearly $3,000 last year on eating out, with the typical customer making over 75 dining purchases.
Zoom in: Out of all the incentives, priority access to high-profile restaurants has proven to be one of the most attractive perks that a credit card or loyalty program can offer, and getting trendy restaurants on board is a big part of bringing in new, affluent customers.
The New York Times found that last year, OpenTable — which has an exclusive partnership with Visa — offered to pay some popular restaurants up to US$95,000 to make the switch from platforms like Resy.
Our take: Right now, credit cards can get you priority access to these restaurants, but most tables on the booking platforms are still open to the public. As this dinner reservation economy continues to grow, it wouldn’t be shocking to see a lot more tables at restaurants set aside for swanky credit card holders (and fewer left open for everyone else).—LA
