Fairfield Glade’s anticipated new dining rewards program began this week for community club members, with participants to get credits of 10% or 20% in their restaurant bills each month depending on how much they spend.
General Manager Bill Ward outlined the Preferred Dining program to the membership at the board of directors’ March 26 meeting.
“This is a loyalty program to reward members who support food and beverage,” Ward told the audience gathered at The Center.
How the program will work, as Ward explained:
Members enrolling in the program will pay a one-time $100 membership fee. The charge is per-community club membership, not per-person. That means, for example, two people on one club membership will pay $100, not $200.
Members will get a special card they will use to charge their food and beverages to their membership accounts. They will receive a statement at the end of each month showing how much they spent. Those who spend at least $100 in a month will receive a credit of 20%; those spending $50 to $99 will get a 10% credit.
The program not only applies to Stonehenge Grille but also to the golf course snack bars.
Ward said participants will get dining “perks.” One gives them permission to bring in their own wine, subject to a $25 corkage fee, which he said is “standard.”
“We will accommodate that for Preferred Dining members.”
The corkage fee will not count toward dining rewards.
Property owner Ted Landers, a wine collector, told Ward a $25 corkage fee “might be standard in large cities, but it is not standard in the area. That’s a high-dollar amount.”
Ward countered that the fee “is cheaper than our house wine.” He said $20 to $25 for the fee “is standard in the industry.”
Participating members also will be given preference for reservations for special dining events and other club events.
Ward said members can contact Member Records at the Administration Office to sign up for the program and obtain their Preferred Dining card. Members will present their cards to their servers, who will ring up the charges on their accounts.
The new program follows one in which members had received a 20% discount on all food purchased at Stonehenge Grille under Bobby Jones Links, which managed the community club’s F&B operations until a three-year contract ended in February. That discount did not include beverages.
It also replaces a credit the community club had given members based on how much they spent on food each quarter provided that they met a $300 minimum.
Ward also said there will be new menus at Stonehenge Grille by May 1.