Feb 18, 2015, 5:57 pm
Last edit by: rrgg
AAdvantage eShoppping by Cartera Commerce
Using, earning miles, problems, etc. (Consolidated thread)
American Airlines is not the contact for Cartera / AAdvantage eShopping .
AAdvantage eShopping FAQs and an e-contact form can be found via the "Contact Us" link at the bottom left corner of the home page.
If you have trouble getting purchases to track, there's also a browser extension to help.
A related article, highlighting an interview of Cartera Commerce CEO Tom Bercher, is "Secrets of Cartera Commerce Revealed: Inside the Company that Brings You Miles for Online Shopping" by Gary Leff on March 3, 2014. Link.
As described in this thread, AAdvantage Shopping now offers a downloadable button installable on your desktop (not mobile) device to facilitate e-shopping. Link.
Older posts may be read at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...or-consol.html
Notes about Giftcards.com:
Some anti-virus software silently blocks tracking, and you may want to consider disabling it for your purchase.
Using, earning miles, problems, etc. (Consolidated thread)
American Airlines is not the contact for Cartera / AAdvantage eShopping .
AAdvantage eShopping FAQs and an e-contact form can be found via the "Contact Us" link at the bottom left corner of the home page.
If you have trouble getting purchases to track, there's also a browser extension to help.
Cartera website: http://www.cartera.com
Cartera Commerce, Inc.
One Cranberry Hill
Lexington, Massachusetts 02421
Tel. (781) 541-6800 Fax: (781) 541-6801
For general inquiries, please contact [email protected] or 888.456.6255
Cartera Commerce, Inc.
One Cranberry Hill
Lexington, Massachusetts 02421
Tel. (781) 541-6800 Fax: (781) 541-6801
For general inquiries, please contact [email protected] or 888.456.6255
MODERATOR GUIDEPOST (Please do not alter contents following)
This thread is the sole thread to address issues with AAdvantage eShopping (operated by Cartera Commerce). Other queries or complaints will invariably end up merged into this thread. All posts must comply with FlyerTalk Guidelines and Rules / TOS, or may be summarily deleted or edited by moderators.
This thread is the sole thread to address issues with AAdvantage eShopping (operated by Cartera Commerce). Other queries or complaints will invariably end up merged into this thread. All posts must comply with FlyerTalk Guidelines and Rules / TOS, or may be summarily deleted or edited by moderators.
A related article, highlighting an interview of Cartera Commerce CEO Tom Bercher, is "Secrets of Cartera Commerce Revealed: Inside the Company that Brings You Miles for Online Shopping" by Gary Leff on March 3, 2014. Link.
As described in this thread, AAdvantage Shopping now offers a downloadable button installable on your desktop (not mobile) device to facilitate e-shopping. Link.
Older posts may be read at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...or-consol.html
Notes about Giftcards.com:
- A separate thread exists for discussing Giftcards.com and likely has more data points than this generic thread.
- Purchases from giftcards.com earn miles on the first $2,000 spent in the named calendar month, meaning for example between March 1st and March 31st. [Note: as of Aug 2023, the $2k limit is per order, not per purchase]
- Giftcards.com has had various limits over the years, and it was always by calendar month.
- Some data points show the $2,000 monthly limit is not always enforced. [Note: as of Aug 2023, the $2k limit is per order, not per purchase]
- In 2022, larger orders track more slowly, and you may need to wait a full month to see miles. Strong advice from the thread is to make multiple small purchases (say under $300) rather than large ones to avoid the dreaded "manual review"
Some anti-virus software silently blocks tracking, and you may want to consider disabling it for your purchase.
AAdvantage eShopping / Cartera Questions / Discussion / Vendors / Issues (archive)
Mar 11, 2022, 8:47 am
#421
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP / LT PLT / 3MM, Marriott LT Gold
Posts: 35,366
Mar 11, 2022, 12:44 pm
#422
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Let's hope so. I can see the Cartera marketing people now. "Hey gullible business. The deal is a $20 loss leader promo. We expect 100 (whispers thousand) sign ups per week. Whatdya say?"
ETA: I wonder if Cart publishes stats on their AA vs OAL portfolios? It's gotta be at least double now!
ETA: I wonder if Cart publishes stats on their AA vs OAL portfolios? It's gotta be at least double now!
I think you'd be surprised. Even people who sign up "just for the miles" often end up becoming long term customers if they like the product. It's not that different than credit cards offering tons of miles as sign up bonuses. As long as you don't allow churning (don't pay to acquire the same customer twice!) it's profitable overall, even though you will lose money on some individual customers.
Mar 11, 2022, 2:49 pm
#423
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LAX/PHL
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 292
I made some purchases for 3 miles/$ on the eShopping portal;, and they all posted as Bonus Miles. I thought these were supposed to post as base miles to earn LP??
Mar 11, 2022, 2:56 pm
#424
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
There have been a number of reports that manual adjustments had been showing up as bonus miles unless the requester specifically asks for them to be base miles.
Mar 12, 2022, 10:01 pm
#425
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: DCA
Programs: AA EXP 1MM, WOH Globalist
Posts: 1,160
The post I was replying to was talking about buying Home Depot gift cards, not VGCs.
But you bring to an interesting point. Can you use the VGCs you bought last month to pay for the VGCs you are buying this month? Essentially just paying the fee to get the miles every month, if you have no other method of liquidation? Someone must have tried this...
But you bring to an interesting point. Can you use the VGCs you bought last month to pay for the VGCs you are buying this month? Essentially just paying the fee to get the miles every month, if you have no other method of liquidation? Someone must have tried this...
Mar 14, 2022, 1:59 am
#427
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
Mar 14, 2022, 2:23 am
#428
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: New York City + Vail, CO
Programs: American Airlines Executive Platinum, Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite
Posts: 3,224
Levis is 8x today with an extra 50% off sale items. I picked up 3 new pairs of pants and paid with visa gift cards I got through the gift cards portal.
adidas is up from 1x to 10x as well.
adidas is up from 1x to 10x as well.
Mar 15, 2022, 12:07 am
#429
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, Hyatt Glob, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, Total Wine & More Reserve
Posts: 4,485
Anyone have success getting these reissued as Base Miles?
Mar 15, 2022, 10:59 am
#430
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 687
With giftcards.com 5% off on virtual visa giftcards, is there any downside besides being stuck with a visa giftcard to maxing out the $2k per month limit?
Mar 15, 2022, 12:42 pm
#431
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LAX/PHL
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 292
I made an inquiry on the aa eshopping website for reclass from bonus to base miles, but have not received a response yet. Since all of mine have been manual adjustments, I'm fairly certain I've been hosed up to this point so I really need that correction. I'm unsure if I can call AAdvantage to help since it's being posted on the aa.com website, but I may have to go down that route.
Mar 15, 2022, 2:26 pm
#432
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,523
Man, they are just clawing back other random purchases for me at this point. (Stuff I have actually received, and was within the T&C). What's up with you, AA Shopping Portal?
Mar 15, 2022, 4:14 pm
#433
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP / LT PLT / 3MM, Marriott LT Gold
Posts: 35,366
Which vendors? I've had no clawbacks yet and all my inquiries to date have been resolved in my favor except for a couple that are still pending. I would file a dispute ASAP.
Mar 15, 2022, 4:28 pm
#434
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA Executive Platinum
Posts: 1,932
They’re a pain to buy: credit card declines, canceled orders, orders that don’t track correctly are all apparently frequent occurrences. And they’re a pain to use: unless you can drain it in one go, you’re having to track and use residual balances on multiple cards. But if you can deal with those issues then they’re pretty lucrative. It will cost you $974 to pay $1000 in bills and earn 3K LP on top of whatever you would normally earn. Assuming you can get rid of them on spend that would otherwise be unbonused then it’s an attractive deal.
Mar 15, 2022, 4:41 pm
#435
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
They’re a pain to buy: credit card declines, canceled orders, orders that don’t track correctly are all apparently frequent occurrences. And they’re a pain to use: unless you can drain it in one go, you’re having to track and use residual balances on multiple cards. But if you can deal with those issues then they’re pretty lucrative. It will cost you $974 to pay $1000 in bills and earn 3K LP on top of whatever you would normally earn. Assuming you can get rid of them on spend that would otherwise be unbonused then it’s an attractive deal.
But they are extremely easy to use. There is no physical card so they are only good for card-not-present transactions (generally phone or online) but other than that restriction I've never had a merchant who takes Visa not accept them. I've used them to pay utility bills, medical bills, invoices (my pool guy), and for online retail. You can run them as debit if it results in a reduction or elimination of fees.
You don't need to track anything; you can check your balance online at giftcards.com and I've never had more then one in a partially used state. The only real issue comes when splitting payments over multiple cards is a problem (my health insurance company allows it but does not support it online, so I have to call in and split the payment over 4 cards)