The gift card you mention: are they easily usable to purchase AA tickets on their website--plug in the numbers just like a ccredit card?
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Originally Posted by sinner7
2 miles for buying at giftcertificates.com through the eShopping portal, 1.25 miles (assuming xfer of 20k *points to 25k AA miles) for buying with Starwood Amex = 3.25 miles
Wow, that gift certificate route definitely seems like the way to go! Do all AA FTers do this? I just had a couple questions about the exceptions:
1) There's a $2,499 purchasing limit above which evidently you don't earn miles. (As stipulated at the eshopping portal.) Does that mean I can just make repeated $2,000 purchases of gift cards throughout a day or is that an annual/forever cap?
2) I put ~$15,000 worth of AA tickets on my credit card each spring when I take a bunch of people to Africa. Obviously I wouldn't be able to use gift certificates for all of that if it was one PNR, as I'm pretty sure $500 is the largest denomination and you're only allowed to use 8 on one PNR. But presumably I could break up the reservation into, say, 4 PNRs and use gcs on all of them. Or is this cheating?
Thanks so much for the hint! Even if my dream of using them on the big reservation each year doesn't work, the benefits for personal travel are huge. I am constantly amazed at how useful FT is.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ajohn
Wow, that gift certificate route definitely seems like the way to go! Do all AA FTers do this? I just had a couple questions about the exceptions:
1) There's a $2,499 purchasing limit above which evidently you don't earn miles. (As stipulated at the eshopping portal.) Does that mean I can just make repeated $2,000 purchases of gift cards throughout a day or is that an annual/forever cap?
Each individual order must be $2499 or less. So, if you need to buy a $2700 ticket, simply place two orders, one for $2000, and another for $700. Just make sure that no single order is higher than $2499.
Quote:
2) I put ~$15,000 worth of AA tickets on my credit card each spring when I take a bunch of people to Africa. Obviously I wouldn't be able to use gift certificates for all of that if it was one PNR, as I'm pretty sure $500 is the largest denomination and you're only allowed to use 8 on one PNR. But presumably I could break up the reservation into, say, 4 PNRs and use gcs on all of them. Or is this cheating?
It should work just fine. Keep in mind, however, that you cannot use Gift Cards if your itinerary includes flights on non-OW airlines:
Gift Cards are redeemable toward the purchase of air travel wholly on flights operated by American Airlines, American Eagle® and AmericanConnection® carriers for itineraries sold and originating in the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Gift Cards may also be used for payment of air travel on any oneworld partner or Codeshare flights designated in flight listings as AA*. They cannot be used for payment of air travel on any other airline.
Thanks so much for the quick and informative reply. Yes, all my Africa travel is either on AA metal or codeshare, so I think I should be OK. With the PLT mileage bonus I think I should be pulling in about 75,000 miles each trip with this deal. Incredible! Just one last question: what happens if you cancel a trip. Where does the refund money (if any) go? Do they give you a new giftcard?
Yes, every AA purchase on the business card earns double miles.
Requirements of the card say it must only be used for business related purchases. How do they know if my airline tickets are for vacation rather than a business trip?
