Anyone used skyauction.com for restaurants?

[Vit]

Hello,

I have seen that people have used Restaurant.com sucessfully. In my case, skyauction.com may work better (group of 4 people). Is there any conditions on their certificates? Because Restaurant.com $50 certificates are very limited and have too many restrictions (e.g. to redeem $50 certificate need to spend $100). Of course we can get $25 certificates and sit at the different tables pretending we don't know each other, but we don't want to go that route :) Looking to redeem these certificates in Chicago (for now) and NYC (later).

Please share your experiences.

PS. I've emailed their support, but it normally takes a while for them to respond and and I want to see if people actually use it and have any problems.

Thanks,

Vit

[tenerifesharon]

I've used skyauction frequently for buying timeshare certificates and even for sightseeing trips (San Francisco), but - sorry - never for restaurants. Don't forget that you have to pay an additional $20 handling fee for any of the skyauction purchases (whether it's one certificate or several), and that, for the restaurant certificates, you can usually only pick one of the restaurants that is being offered in the particular city.

[jereth]

i've never used them for restaurant gift certs directly, but i've used them for philadelphia passes (basically a citypass just for philly) and got them quickly, and have bought and used some of the certs they sell that i bought from ebay with no issues. they do charge that $20 flat fee, so if you buy 10 of the deals, it only adds 2 bucks a cert, but if you only buy say 1 or 2 it makes a big difference in the price so dont forget to factor that in. of course you could get some and sell the extras on ebay. it says you cant but as i've said i've bought them off there before with no issues and the guy is still selling them. The only major restrictions are sometimes the expieration dates for them are soon ( i saw some listed yesterday with a May 1 07 exp date), and there is no cash back, so you have to spend at least 50 \ 100 dollars so you dont waste any of the cert, which with a group of 4 shouldnt be an issue.

[promo2000]

I have used the restaurant certificates many times and always without any problems. Last time I paid on Monday morning and they were shipped via FEDEX and arrived on Thursday of the same week. Things to watch out for: Expiration date, some restaurants only allows use on specific weekdays (SUN-THUR), some restaurants excludes alcoholic beverages. Other than that it works great!

[Vit]

Thanks for all the replies.

My travel plans changed a bit, I'll spend less time hence eat less meals in Chicago than I originally thought, so I'll go with Restaurant.com.

On a side note, I emailed all restaurants in Chicago (10+) that are mentioned on these certificates and only one replied saying that yes, I can use it.

[jereth]

i just used one at the wharf rat in baltimore, no issues, i even asked first and the server just checked the exp. date, said they had issues with ones someone printed up on their own, but as long as the exp date was ok they could take it. i have heard some horror stories about them though that makes me hesitate to get any more.