Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Discontinued Programs/Partners > American Airlines | AAdvantage (Pre-Consolidation with USAir)
Reload this Page >

AA Gift Cards - Save 10% @ Costco [only remaining supply left - phasing out]

AA Gift Cards - Save 10% @ Costco [only remaining supply left - phasing out]

 
Old May 19, 2011, 9:59 pm
  #46  
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Benicia CA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold 75K, AA 3.8MM, UA 1.1MM, enjoying the retired life
Posts: 31,849
Originally Posted by FlyMeToTheLooneyBin
Do they normally charge sales tax on gift cards?
I wasn't charged in CA. When I previously bought the Hyatt gift checks I also was not charged sales tax.
tom911 is offline  
Old May 19, 2011, 10:27 pm
  #47  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: All over
Programs: AA-LTP, HH-DIA, Marriott-LT+AMB, Hyatt-Globalist, Hertz-PC, UA-GS
Posts: 6,823
None at Fresno Costco North today.
chanp is offline  
Old May 19, 2011, 10:41 pm
  #48  
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Santa Monica
Programs: AA EXP/2M, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 89
Went to the Hawthorne Costco tonight and got 5 gift cards. No tax charged. They have 50 gift cards left after selling 21 today. The guy at the cage with the gift cards said that was a lot sold in one day. He also confirmed that the Westlake Village Costco had 89 left in stock and none sold today. Thanks to the op as I would not have found these even though I go to Costco every week!
alicesantamonica is offline  
Old May 19, 2011, 11:43 pm
  #49  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP, SPG PLAT
Posts: 445
Thanks for the heads up. I will check in the DFW area stores and update the thread this weekend.
dfwflyguy is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 6:51 am
  #50  
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: St Louis, MO
Programs: AA L.T. PLT
Posts: 3,265
Is there an expiration on the cards? Or are they good "forever"?
Thanks
pkerr is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 7:04 am
  #51  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,731
Originally Posted by pkerr
Is there an expiration on the cards? Or are they good "forever"?
Thanks
AA gift cards are generally forever with no expiration date. If you need to cancel a reservation booked with a gift card though, you will get a paper voucher instead (which has a 1 year lifetime, but can be extended with trick).
ckpeter is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 8:53 am
  #52  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: LAX; AA EXP, MM; HH Gold
Posts: 31,789
Originally Posted by alicesantamonica
Went to the Hawthorne Costco tonight and got 5 gift cards. No tax charged. They have 50 gift cards left after selling 21 today. The guy at the cage with the gift cards said that was a lot sold in one day. He also confirmed that the Westlake Village Costco had 89 left in stock and none sold today. Thanks to the op as I would not have found these even though I go to Costco every week!
The cards are listed in the Google Cache version of the Westlake Village store listing "In the Warehouse" but are not in the non-cache version. Nevertheless, I'm close enough to that location that I'll be there at 10:00 am when it opens and report back.
FWAAA is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 10:20 am
  #53  
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 11
For Northern CA folks I checked the Almaden Costco in San Jose and they do not have them.
dcg543 is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 10:54 am
  #54  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: AA Plat, Marriott Plat
Posts: 736
Anyone checked in the SNA area? I'm going there in two week and I would love to bring some back to TX with me

Although by then they'll prob all be gone...
living near shamu is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 11:54 am
  #55  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: LAX; AA EXP, MM; HH Gold
Posts: 31,789
I bought all but one of the Westlake Village store's inventory this morning. The manager working the cage thought that they would get more but had no idea when that might happen.
FWAAA is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 12:10 pm
  #56  
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SJC, SFO, BUR
Programs: AA, WN, SPG, UA
Posts: 200
I found them at the Mountain View, CA Costco.

The process is like any gift card at Costco. There a display of cardboard "items" along with all the other gift cards sold at Costco. Take one to the register, pay for it, and go to merchandise pickup.

The cardboard item says the following (slightly paraphrased) :

- American Airlines gift cards never expire.
- There are no fees associated with American Airlines gift cards.
- Redeemable for travel booked on AA.com or AA reservations (ticket fee may apply to phone purchases).
- Redeemable for flight purchase only and any associated taxes.
- Redeemable for purchases in and originating from US, PR, and USVI.
- Maximum 8 gift cards per reservation.
- Can be used to book with Oneworld (BA, IB, MA, S7, CX, JL, QF, AY, RJ) and code share partners from AA.com or phone reservations.

The cards say the full terms and conditions are at http://www.aa.com/giftcard.

I can confirm there is no sales tax on the card purchase.

According to the store manager it's a test program that's being run in six US stores. Two are in Northern California; the other one is Danville.

(I don't know if the six locations is still accurate, but we're used to imperfect information in dealing with large organizations - cough, AA, cough -, right?)

When I left the manager said there was 11 left but she's trying to get more sent to the store via overnight shipping. And while she can't guarantee how many more she can get, she did say the likelihood of this continuing depends on the success of the test.

(If you're thinking of buying a bunch, she'd probably want to hear from you.)

So if you don't mind taking on a little default risk, this might be a time to stock up.

Last edited by deeseeel; May 20, 2011 at 12:16 pm Reason: Typos.
deeseeel is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 12:33 pm
  #57  
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SJC, SFO, BUR
Programs: AA, WN, SPG, UA
Posts: 200
And it looks like it qualifies for 2% rebate if you have an executive membership:

http://www.costco.com/Service/Featur...uctNo=10045010
deeseeel is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 12:58 pm
  #58  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: LAX; AA EXP, MM; HH Gold
Posts: 31,789
Originally Posted by deeseeel
And it looks like it qualifies for 2% rebate if you have an executive membership:

http://www.costco.com/Service/Featur...uctNo=10045010
It looks that way unless the purchase of large numbers of gift cards falls within the weasely language of "on certain other categories as determined at Costco's discretion, which may change without notice."

If the executive rebate applies to these, that increases my rate of return on the dollars I used to purchase the gift cards from 11.1% to 13.4%, not a bad return these days.

Thank you to cwpfly for posting this find!
FWAAA is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 2:11 pm
  #59  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: DFW, SJC, SFO
Programs: AA ExP 1.3 MM
Posts: 13
Mt. View Costco

The referenced Costco still has a few in stock. Thanks OP and deeseeel!

Last edited by dallasdiva; May 20, 2011 at 2:13 pm Reason: spelling
dallasdiva is offline  
Old May 20, 2011, 2:22 pm
  #60  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: AA Plat, Marriott Plat
Posts: 736
Originally Posted by FWAAA
It looks that way unless the purchase of large numbers of gift cards falls within the weasely language of "on certain other categories as determined at Costco's discretion, which may change without notice."

If the executive rebate applies to these, that increases my rate of return on the dollars I used to purchase the gift cards from 11.1% to 13.4%, not a bad return these days.

Thank you to cwpfly for posting this find!
Last year I got $2K worth of Hyatt GC and they counted towards this 2% rebate. It was a nice check at end of the period!
living near shamu is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.