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)
May 10, 2022, 11:44 am
#751
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Yes, well, I'm also trying to maintain my UA Platinum status (I find it useful to have status on a secondary airline as well, for the reasons that you point out. Last week I went to New Orleans and UA was about 1/3 the price of AA -- I had to connect but it was painless). That UA status is a lot harder to get and maintain.
May 10, 2022, 11:47 am
#752
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: United States (mostly), New Zealand (sometimes), Sweden (now and then)
Posts: 868
Thanks.
I was able to buy a $250 GC and use it to reload my Amazon balance. I even got a $10 bonus on Amazon, so I paid $250 to receive $260 of Amazon credit
I'll (hopefully) receive 1,000 RDM and 1,000 LP (3x GC.com + 1x AA CC spend).
I was able to buy a $250 GC and use it to reload my Amazon balance. I even got a $10 bonus on Amazon, so I paid $250 to receive $260 of Amazon credit
I'll (hopefully) receive 1,000 RDM and 1,000 LP (3x GC.com + 1x AA CC spend).
May 10, 2022, 11:57 am
#753
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Denver
Programs: Hilton gold
Posts: 450
Use credit card
Wonder if Chase or Amex gets upset about buyingfrom Gift card com
May 10, 2022, 12:03 pm
#754
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP / LT PLT / 3MM, Marriott LT Gold
Posts: 35,388
May 10, 2022, 12:04 pm
#755
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Amazon is actually the one online retailer that I don't use these cards on because I have the 5% CB Amazon prime card (though this is certainly worth more than 5%, so maybe I should reconsider. One question is how much value I'll be able to get from my RDM since now I'm generating so many of them, I'll have to lower my bar for redemption)
Out of an abundance of caution (probably unnecessary) I've stopped buying these GC with my AA card (or, actually, anything from Citi, Chase or Amex) because I'm not sure what their tolerance is for "stored value card" purchases. I got a 1% CB card from a small regional bank, and I'm using that to buy them. I don't really care if they end up shutting me down. So for now I'm getting 3 RDM & LP + 1% CB + 1% giftcards.com store credit, which is still pretty good. Like I said, it's probably unnecessary but not having to worry about shutdowns is nice (even if I was worrying for nothing)
May 10, 2022, 12:07 pm
#756
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,546
On a related note (and not just with giftcards.com), when the miles are clawed back the LPs remain, at least for now. I had this happen with a Macy's purchase (that I subsequently returned for a refund) as well. I'm sure they'll eventually develop a mechanism to deal with it if they deem it important enough, but for now the good times are rolling.
May 10, 2022, 12:21 pm
#757
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
A small warning to anyone reading your post not to intentionally or flagrantly take advantage of the lack of LP clawback. Years ago eShopping would fail to debit the miles for returns. A few people maximized that loophole by buying and then returning hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. I think when it was finally caught, some accounts got shut down.
Honestly EXP is so easy to achieve while staying within the rules, I see no reason to even consider a tactic like this. The risk is too high. Note that AA can catch this with an audit (they don't need help from the portal) and they have been heavy handed about stuff like this in the past.
May 10, 2022, 12:21 pm
#758
Join Date: Apr 2011
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, AA ExecPlat, Amtrak Select Exec, former WN apologist
Posts: 1,427
What's the $10 Amazon bonus? I've used the GCs on Amzn gc balance, but didn't see any bonus offer
May 10, 2022, 12:22 pm
#759
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: KHOU/KIAH
Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 11,247
A small warning to anyone reading your post not to intentionally or flagrantly take advantage of the lack of LP clawback. Years ago eShopping would fail to debit the miles for returns. A few people maximized that loophole by buying and then returning hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. I think when it was finally caught, some accounts got shut down.
May 10, 2022, 12:42 pm
#760
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,550
Oh, they will. Just go to the "Shutdowns" thread on the Manufactured Spending forum.
No one knows what the tolerance is. It is probably not at the level of $2K a month, particularly if the card is also used for other spend. My shutdowns have all been after hundreds of thousands of dollars of GC purchases. But yes, it can happen. Why? Ask me again after I become a senior vice-president for risk managment of a bank.
No one knows what the tolerance is. It is probably not at the level of $2K a month, particularly if the card is also used for other spend. My shutdowns have all been after hundreds of thousands of dollars of GC purchases. But yes, it can happen. Why? Ask me again after I become a senior vice-president for risk managment of a bank.
May 10, 2022, 12:47 pm
#761
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: United States (mostly), New Zealand (sometimes), Sweden (now and then)
Posts: 868
May 10, 2022, 12:55 pm
#762
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
The short answer is, compliance.
There are "know your customer" laws. Some banks have taken hefty fines for turning a blind eye to money laundering. It's not that they necessarily knew that their customers were laundering money; it's that the activity was suspicious enough that they should have known.
So, anything that looks like it might be money laundering (or otherwise shady) gets shut down. They may be making money by having you as a customer, but it's not enough to risk the wrath of their regulators or the justice department. So the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater, so to speak.
I'm not an attorney; maybe someone who is can give a better explanation and/or correct any mistakes in what I wrote.
There are "know your customer" laws. Some banks have taken hefty fines for turning a blind eye to money laundering. It's not that they necessarily knew that their customers were laundering money; it's that the activity was suspicious enough that they should have known.
So, anything that looks like it might be money laundering (or otherwise shady) gets shut down. They may be making money by having you as a customer, but it's not enough to risk the wrath of their regulators or the justice department. So the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater, so to speak.
I'm not an attorney; maybe someone who is can give a better explanation and/or correct any mistakes in what I wrote.
May 10, 2022, 1:07 pm
#763
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,546
Not just money laundering but also break-out fraud and synthetic identity fraud. Buying a lot of cash-equivalents like gift cards is something someone might do right before walking away from their debts and declaring bankruptcy.
May 10, 2022, 1:12 pm
#764
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Stilllwater OK (SWO)
Programs: AAdvantage ExecPlat, World of Hyatt Globalist, plain "member" of Marriott, IHG, enterprise, etc.
Posts: 1,848
For me this is great because I fly a lot on cheap fares. There's no way I will spend $18k on airfare in a year. My average domestic round trip is well under $500. Even for international trips I can often find good deals -- I applied SWUs to each direction of a $930 BE round trip fare to Seoul. At the end of the year my spend will be somewhere in the $5k to $7k range which would leave me somewhere between a quarter and a third of the way to requalifying (I originally got my status comped through the Hyatt Globalist promo in 2019).
I would argue that I get better value out of the status than people who spend a lot on expensive premium cabin fares (since I get upgraded, and they have nowhere to upgrade to). I'm currently sitting in F (upgraded from a BE fare).
I would argue that I get better value out of the status than people who spend a lot on expensive premium cabin fares (since I get upgraded, and they have nowhere to upgrade to). I'm currently sitting in F (upgraded from a BE fare).
But, now, no way. Way easy to get to 200K LPs, and since I always have 4+ segments per roundtrip (as a tiny outstation), the 30 segments for SWUs is pretty much happening naturally anyways.
It seems there are about 6 of us on this board who actually get it, while others keep talking about having to put $200K on an AA-branded credit card.
...
BTW I'm not finding giftcards.com to be fun. Too glitchy and too much bookkeeping for me. I gave up on it after my first purchase of $2500. I'm already nearly at 150K LPs and have a bunch of flights coming up.
....
...
BTW I'm not finding giftcards.com to be fun. Too glitchy and too much bookkeeping for me. I gave up on it after my first purchase of $2500. I'm already nearly at 150K LPs and have a bunch of flights coming up.
....
As for the giftcards, I see the benefit, but I'm not into that either (and so don't bother with it).
May 10, 2022, 1:22 pm
#765
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
My experience is that $250 purchases track automatically, usually same-day, and post within 2 days. I still keep track but I haven't had a single issue since I've switched to 1 card per transaction.
On the other hand, larger purchases seem to require some kind of manual intervention or approval. If you are lucky they will post automatically within a week or so. If you are not you will have to file a ticket.