Points Only gift cards

[Brightpool]

Here and there, we are seeing gift cards being offered for points only.

Recently, I redeemed 62,000 points for a $25 Bloomin' Brands eGift card and 42,500 points, each, for two more at $20 value, or $65 in eGift cards for points only. The cards can be used at Outback Steakhouse, among others.

My wife and I have watched Live PD almost every Friday and Saturday evening for most of the time they have been on the air, and we have played Live PD Bingo for those dates.

Since COPS announced their discontinuation of broadcasting and Live PD followed suit last week, Angie and I decided we'd treat ourselves to some Outback take-out and watch a movie of mutual interest on Friday evening.

Instead of watching Live PD, we watched Mary Poppins. Both of us noticed scenes we hadn't remembered from seeing the show before. But, I digress.

I called ahead to order our take-out options - they suggest to call 20 minutes ahead - and then I drove the 5 miles to pick up our order.

Angie and I both ordered the 22 oz. bone-in ribeye steak and the baked potato and baked sweet potato as sides for both of us.

With the further 10 percent discount for AARP membership, our combined order came to less than $60, so I gave the young lady the three eGift cards I mentioned above and also pulled the eight $1 bills I had in my wallet to add for the tip when she carried the order from the restaurant to my parked car in the order pick-up designated spot.

It was a smooth operation for my wife and me. She and I had our dinner for $8 out of pocket, thanks to the eGift cards from AARP Rewards.

I also bought a $50 eGift card for $45 from AARP Rewards. She and I are holding onto that for another "not anytime soon" trip to Outback, so it can be another special event for us.

NOTICE: If you win or order any eGift cards, be sure to check your e-mail closely. You will get an e-mail, not a plastic card in the mail. That e-mail will have a link to see and print the card codes. Another way of delivery might be provided, so be aware of these things.

Stay well, and enjoy!

[rednexsrus]

Brightpool, I meant to ask when I read your post. How did your Outback take-out experience go ? I am not a big fan of cold food and have always chosen the sit down inside method especially when it comes to steak. I never really considered trying steak to go because I wasn’t sure it would reheat very well. I suppose with Covid-19 around we will all have to try new things when it comes to eating out. I for one am just not ready to go back inside for now.
Just Saying. Be Safe

[Brightpool]

Although Outback here does have limited inside seating, my wife and I chose takeout as we also aren't ready to jump back in. This was our first time ordering takeout for steak, too.

The whole meal went well. If I'd had to drive farther than 5 miles on surface streets, with their traffic lights and people who take their sweet time getting up to the speed limit on perfectly fine roads in decent weather so we could be caught by the next traffic light, and such, it might not have gone so well. It took me about 30 minutes for the round trip, including having my order delivered to my car and paying for it. That would mean about 10 minutes or so to get home with our order.

Once I got home, we had to take everything out of the bag. I transferred my steak from the plastic shell container (marked MR for medium rare) to a plate and my wife put hers (marked M for medium) into a frying pan to change hers from rare to well done. We had ordered medium for her thinking that it would still cook to the next level on the way home. She barely tolerates any pink and prefers not to see any hint of it.

Her steak was more rare than my medium rare, which was still slightly more rare than I liked, but close, so instead of trading with her and having her cook my steak and my having a steak that was way more rare than I like, I just let her cook the rare steak she already had. That way, we both got pretty much what we wanted.

My steak was still just warm enough to be warm through about 1/3 to 1/2 of eating it, and then it was so close to room temperature that the second half or so of the steak was not so great. It was still tender - it was ribeye, after all - so it wasn't bad. I could have put my plate onto a warming tray, but I finally thought of that a little too late.

I let my baked potato and baked sweet potato (my two sides) sit to warm up and have for lunch the next day.

If you order takeout and your steak is not warm enough when you get home, put your Corelle plate or equivalent with the steak right on a warming tray from the start. Or, if you prefer or don't have a warming tray, put the steak into a preheated frying pan for a minute on each side to warm it up. My guess is that it shouldn't cook the steak too much beyond its current level.

Good luck.

Stay well, and happy eating!
Lynn

[AARPDianaG]

Wow @Brightpool, thank you so much for sharing with us your experience! It's great to hear how our members are taking advantage of their benefits, keep it up!