A few days ago, u/Elrondel posted an awesome guide on stacking Houston Restaurant Weeks discounts with InKind. Huge credit to them—that post (and the linked InKind strategy) was the inspiration. I decided to see how far I could push it.

I also relied heavily on u/Elrondel's spreadsheet of Houston restaurants that accept InKind. Without that, planning this would've been a lot more difficult.

Here's exactly what I did.

Step 1: Buy discounted InKind gift cards

• Bought 4 × $100 InKind gift cards at Costco
• Paid $75 each
• Out of pocket: $300
• InKind balance: $400

Step 2: Stack the referral bonuses

• Signed up and received a $25 referral bonus
• Referred my wife
• She signed up and received $25 (Here's my referral link if anyone wants to use it so we both get a bonus.)
• We split the check on our first reservation so she could use her new account
• That triggered another $50 referral reward for me

That gave us $100 in bonus credits, bringing our total InKind value to $500 after spending just $300.

Source	Value
Costco gift cards	$400
My signup bonus	$25
Wife signup bonus	$25
Referral reward	$50
Total InKind value	$500

Step 3: Stack InKind offers

Both of us also qualified for the 20% InKind cashback, which kicked additional dining credit back into our accounts for future visits.

On top of that, I activated an in-app InKind promotion for Cocody that gave me $50 off a $150+ purchase, making one of our Restaurant Weeks dinners an even better deal.

Step 4: Stack premium credit cards

Then I layered on two more benefits:

• Amex Gold Resy credit: $100
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables credit: $300

Those credits offset another $400 in restaurant spending.

Where we went

We booked six Houston Restaurant Weeks dinners:

Restaurant	Meals
Sal y Pimienta (Resy)	2
Lucille's	2
Marmo	2
Toca Madera	2
Le Jardinier (not on InKind)	2
Cocody	2
Total	12 three-course meals

The math

Cash Outlay	Amount
Costco purchase (4 × $100 InKind gift cards)	-$300

Value Received	Amount
InKind gift card value	+$400
Signup & referral bonuses	+$100
Cocody in-app offer	+$50
Amex Gold Resy statement credit	+$100
Chase Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables credit	+$300
Total value/credits received	+$950

So I spent $300 in cash to unlock roughly $950 in dining value, statement credits, and promotions, before even counting the 20% InKind cashback that we'll use on future meals. Between those benefits and the Restaurant Weeks pricing, twelve three-course meals across six great restaurants for roughly $300 works out to about $25 per person, per three-course meal, before even counting the future value of the cashback.

And, to be honest, I'm valuing those meals at $55 each, because that's how much the restaurants charge, but the quality is worth sufficiently more than that, and I wouldn't begin to know how to quantify it. To add further, proceeds from HRW go to support wonderful causes in our city.

I don't think I'll ever beat this stack:

• ✅ Costco discounted InKind gift cards
• ✅ InKind referral bonuses
• ✅ 20% InKind cashback
• ✅ InKind in-app dining offers
• ✅ Amex Gold Resy credit
• ✅ Chase Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables credit
• ✅ Houston Restaurant Weeks pricing

Has anyone found a way to stack this even further? I feel like we're getting pretty close to the limit. 😅

Huge thanks again to u/Elrondel for the original guide and especially the restaurant spreadsheet. This is just an extension of their strategy, not a replacement for it. If you're trying to replicate this, make sure you check the current terms for InKind referrals, cashback promotions, in-app offers, and your credit card benefits, since those can change over time. Also, caveat: I don't work for any of the companies above. I just enjoyed seeing how far I could push the strategy.

Received my champions shirt in the mail (ordered from Arsenaldirect) and noticed that the gold lettering/numbers doesn't have the pattern that they appeared to have when purchasing. I've included a screenshot from the website, as well. Thrilled to have this shirt, of course, but wonder if this is in error, or if this is what is being distributed for everyone.