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

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

 
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Old Jul 3, 2012, 11:06 pm
  #1276  
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Originally Posted by supergrandslam
RIP AA GC@costco, I thought the GC would be available for a longer time.
If AA is giving up 20% (as I suspect), that's a big discount. Of course, not all gift cards are fully redeemed, and that spoilage helps offset the discounted price, but perhaps not enough. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
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Old Jul 4, 2012, 12:53 am
  #1277  
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Originally Posted by MauiTigerShark
Isn't the max set at however many cards the store has? That could be an expensive visit!
Earlier in this thread, since 8 is the max number of gc's one can use for a single reservation some fter's thought that 8 was the max number one can buy in a single transaction with Costco. I think the conclusion was that they are independent of each other.
Now that it has been confirmed (?) that the national supply is disappearing, I wouldn't be surprised if those Costco stores that do have them may place purchase limits.
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Old Jul 4, 2012, 8:56 am
  #1278  
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Originally Posted by JY1024
Unfortunately, correct. The terms and conditions on the AA gift card site (and listed within the first post of this thread), do clearly state that gift cards cannot be used to pay taxes/fees associated with award travel.
I suspect this may be an effect of the anti-fraud rule that award taxes/fees must be paid with a card that matches the name of the AA account holder.
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Old Jul 4, 2012, 10:45 pm
  #1279  
 
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Originally Posted by FWAAA
If AA is giving up 20% (as I suspect), that's a big discount. Of course, not all gift cards are fully redeemed, and that spoilage helps offset the discounted price, but perhaps not enough. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Spoilage is tough on an item like this, because many states don't allow for gift cards to expire. Plus, AA can use the cash flow instead of borrowing and isn't losing as much as one would think.

Originally Posted by MauiTigerShark
Isn't the max set at however many cards the store has? That could be an expensive visit!
The tag said 8 was the max, yet the store had more than 8 cards.
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Old Jul 4, 2012, 11:19 pm
  #1280  
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Originally Posted by N1120A
Spoilage is tough on an item like this, because many states don't allow for gift cards to expire. Plus, AA can use the cash flow instead of borrowing and isn't losing as much as one would think.
Apart from states, AA has no expiration date on this, so that state issue is irrelevant.

Originally Posted by N1120A

The tag said 8 was the max, yet the store had more than 8 cards.
No, it doesn't. That only reflects the rules on how many can be used on one AA purchase and has absolutely nothing to to do with the purchase of the gift cards. Nothing at all.

Cheers.
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Old Jul 5, 2012, 10:02 am
  #1281  
 
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only Queens store in NYC has any supply left. i just cleared out the New Rochelle Costco
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Old Jul 5, 2012, 10:52 am
  #1282  
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Originally Posted by FWAAA
...Of course, not all gift cards are fully redeemed, and that spoilage helps offset the discounted price, but perhaps not enough. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Originally Posted by N1120A
Spoilage is tough on an item like this, because many states don't allow for gift cards to expire. ...
I think the "spoilage" here is not due to the card expiring, but the fact that some people loose track of cards with small balances remaining. Since AA has no idea who owns the card or where they live, I doubt there is a requirement to turn over abandoned funds to the state, so that all adds to their cash account.
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Old Jul 5, 2012, 10:57 am
  #1283  
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Originally Posted by RogerD408
I think the "spoilage" here is not due to the card expiring, but the fact that some people loose track of cards with small balances remaining. Since AA has no idea who owns the card or where they live, I doubt there is a requirement to turn over abandoned funds to the state, so that all adds to their cash account.
Exactly right. I doubt that very many cards will be wholly unused, but it's very likely that someone might misplace a card on whch there remains a $20 or $30 remaining balance. Exhibit A: Me. I misplaced a card containing about that amount last summer when the cards first appeared. If I find it, great. If I don't, then I gave back my portion of the purchase price discount on one card. Fortunately, I've used a lot of them and thus saved lots of money, $30 at a time.
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Old Jul 5, 2012, 10:57 am
  #1284  
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I know as FT'ers we readily jump on statements made as gospel. I just have a tough time thinking someone in a random warehouse would know the national plans of a company like Costco. There is a warehouse near me in Sac that just got the cards. Not sure they'd do that if they are being phased out.

Is there by chance someone here that is either further up the food chain at Costco or AA that has direct knowledge (or within a few degrees of someone that does) if this item is being dropped?
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Old Jul 5, 2012, 11:27 am
  #1285  
 
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Originally Posted by RogerD408
I know as FT'ers we readily jump on statements made as gospel. I just have a tough time thinking someone in a random warehouse would know the national plans of a company like Costco. There is a warehouse near me in Sac that just got the cards. Not sure they'd do that if they are being phased out.

Is there by chance someone here that is either further up the food chain at Costco or AA that has direct knowledge (or within a few degrees of someone that does) if this item is being dropped?
the item shows up as "pending delete" in the Costco computer. they really are going away...
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Old Jul 5, 2012, 12:05 pm
  #1286  
 
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I bought several last week in LA/hawthorne, store. Was told that they have ~200 left but will not be getting any more once current inventory runs out - seems to confirm phaseout theory with a data point from the west coast...
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Old Jul 5, 2012, 1:16 pm
  #1287  
 
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Can you stack the GC discount to the AA promo codes? Thanks in advance and sorry if this had been asked before. ^_^
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Old Jul 5, 2012, 1:20 pm
  #1288  
 
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More info from L.A.
Originally Posted by iceman06
I bought several last week in LA/hawthorne, store. Was told that they have ~200 left but will not be getting any more once current inventory runs out - seems to confirm phaseout theory with a data point from the west coast...
I just bought some at the west L.A. (Culver City) store. Same story: they have about 80 left but are not expecting to get anymore.
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Old Jul 5, 2012, 1:26 pm
  #1289  
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Originally Posted by uspcommuter
Can you stack the GC discount to the AA promo codes? Thanks in advance and sorry if this had been asked before. ^_^
I think this will work as long as don't put the reservation on hold. [When you pay for a ticket, aa's reservation (and payment) system should not care about the source of GC.]
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Old Jul 5, 2012, 1:42 pm
  #1290  
 
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I bought 6 last week, the Costco next to my office (St. Louis) doesn't seem to be running low at all.
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