Feb 18, 2015, 5:57 pm

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

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.

Quote:

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

Quote:

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.

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"

(Copied from the LP thread wiki): Once you click through the AAdvantage eShopping portal to a vendor offer and make a purchase, you will eventually get the associated miles posted to your AAdvantage account as both redeemable miles and Loyalty Points. If the merchant advertises an increase in the miles per dollar spent, you'll earn the higher amount in both redeemable miles and an equal number of Loyalty Points. The same applies if a merchant advertises a higher fixed amount per purchase, rather than a per dollar amount. Examples of this would appear on the portal as, "Extra miles. Was 1 mile/$. Now earn 3 miles/$" or "Extra miles. Was up to 3700 miles. Now up to 6200 miles." However, if the website advertises a "Limited-time bonus offer" for "bonus miles" after meeting a spending threshold, that bonus will only post as redeemable miles and not Loyalty Points. If a bonus is offered for some site-wide activity such as 1000 miles for installing an extension, or 500 miles for enrolling in the portal, or 2000 miles for meeting a spending threshold across multiple merchants, the bonus will only post as redeemable miles and not Loyalty Points.

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)

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Sep 5, 2022, 10:12 am

#1501

EQDsSUCK

Join Date: Nov 2016

Posts: 532

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrea Waters

You all may already know this but it's now possible to add visa/mc gift cards to Samsung Pay. Of course, spending them online has always been easy but I have found that adding them to Samsung pay works well for local retailers who don't have an online presence.

Can I also add them to Apple Pay?

Sep 5, 2022, 10:20 am

#1502

coleslaw

Join Date: Sep 2020

Programs: AA EXP, BA Gold, VS Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond

Posts: 3,948

Quote:

Originally Posted by EQDsSUCK

Can I also add them to Apple Pay?

In theory you can, by downloading another app. In practice it’s never worked for me.

Sep 5, 2022, 10:46 am

#1503

LittleBird

Join Date: Jul 2013

Location: 32 16N/110 57W

Programs: Asiana Club Diamond (*G), AA PPro (OWE), Korean Air Skypass MC (STE)

Posts: 157

Quote:

Originally Posted by EQDsSUCK

Can I also add them to Apple Pay?

No. The virtual GCs are issued by Metabank which is not supported by Apple Pay.

Sep 5, 2022, 11:02 am

#1504

EQDsSUCK

Join Date: Nov 2016

Posts: 532

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleBird

No. The virtual GCs are issued by Metabank which is not supported by Apple Pay.

Thanks. I am new to this thread, sorry for the newbie questions. :-/ So, there is no plastic visa gift card to buy at egiftcards that I can use at stores I visit in person? So for stores not represented on the egift website I am out of luck in terms of a way to somehow earn LPs for those transactions?

Last edited by EQDsSUCK; Sep 5, 2022 at 11:27 am

Sep 5, 2022, 12:40 pm

#1505

LittleBird

Join Date: Jul 2013

Location: 32 16N/110 57W

Programs: Asiana Club Diamond (*G), AA PPro (OWE), Korean Air Skypass MC (STE)

Posts: 157

Quote:

Originally Posted by EQDsSUCK

You can buy plastic cards, either generic or for specific stores. You'd just need to wait for them to be shipped to you. Their max value is only $250 however. There are business gift cards up to a $500 value but you need to open a business account with GCC and while I've tried to follow through with this process, the questions asked (website, business number etc) seem to make it hard, maybe I could just make up the info but I haven't decided to go that route yet.
You need to think outside the box a bit with these giftcards. You may need to shift your shopping habits.
Myself, for example, I buy the vVGC and use them on the Walmart app for groceries and gas. I have also purchased a plastic Walmart GC for use at Murphy gas stations which are numerous around where I live. For anything else online, if the store is not found on the portal, I just use the vVGC to purchase what I need. I also buy my AA tickets with the vVGCs. Basically, I buy the vVGCs and then buy everything I can with them instead of using a cashback credit card as in the past. Tax payments, insurance, pet bills, health insurance costs, home repairs have also been paid with these vVGCs.
I just worked out I've bought $10000 worth of eVGCs since March for a cost of only $9822 total spend - kind of surreal in a way.

Last edited by LittleBird; Sep 5, 2022 at 12:42 pm Reason: spelling

Sep 5, 2022, 2:05 pm

#1506

majikTib

Join Date: Feb 2007

Location: Nashville, TN

Programs: AA PP; Bonvoy SE

Posts: 265

Quote:

Originally Posted by EQDsSUCK

Search YouTube for the slide app. You may be able to utilize that for loading VGC and spending at stores for added discount.

Sep 5, 2022, 10:47 pm

#1507

MoonOverMiami

Join Date: Aug 2018

Posts: 61

Giftcards.com just dropped back down from 3x to 1x.

Sep 6, 2022, 4:31 am

#1508

LittleBird

Join Date: Jul 2013

Location: 32 16N/110 57W

Programs: Asiana Club Diamond (*G), AA PPro (OWE), Korean Air Skypass MC (STE)

Posts: 157

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoonOverMiami

Giftcards.com just dropped back down from 3x to 1x.

Damn. Lets hope that's a quickly rectified mistake

Sep 6, 2022, 6:08 am

#1509

Antarius

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2012

Location: KHOU/KIAH

Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist

Posts: 11,268

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoonOverMiami

Giftcards.com just dropped back down from 3x to 1x.

Well, that was fun while it lasted.

Especially enjoyed double stacking with the ENDOFSUMMER promo. Fortunately, got my 2k in for September already.

Sep 6, 2022, 6:56 am

#1510

WannaTheater

Join Date: Sep 2009

Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, IHG Platinum

Posts: 1,451

Quote:

Giftcards.com just dropped back down from 3x to 1x.

I am curious- has this happened before? It has been 3x since I started with AA shopping a few months ago.

Sep 6, 2022, 7:08 am

#1511

coleslaw

Join Date: Sep 2020

Programs: AA EXP, BA Gold, VS Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond

Posts: 3,948

Quote:

Originally Posted by WannaTheater

I am curious- has this happened before? It has been 3x since I started with AA shopping a few months ago.

Yes, it has. Although it's been at 3x most of the time since ~March.

Sep 6, 2022, 7:52 am

#1512

Mr. BoH

Join Date: Apr 2011

Programs: Marriott Ambassador, AA ExecPlat, Amtrak Select Exec, former WN apologist

Posts: 1,429

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoonOverMiami

Giftcards.com just dropped back down from 3x to 1x.

Noooooooooooooo

roadtriper, Antarius, nk15 and 1 others like this.

Sep 6, 2022, 9:25 am

#1513

36902BRF

Join Date: Aug 2013

Posts: 1,710

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleBird

Damn. Lets hope that's a quickly rectified mistake

I doubt it is a mistake pretty much every portal that was more than 1x has dropped today with a couple of exceptions. I am guessing they have seen a huge uptick in volume with the 5% off (I know I have been buying a lot) so they don't feel the need to bonus the spend so much.

Sep 6, 2022, 9:37 am

#1514

nk15

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2014

Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances

Posts: 11,669

Quote:

Originally Posted by 36902BRF

I'd rather see them remove the 5% and bring back the 3x miles. I am pretty sure they will see the sales slump at some point and bring it back.

LittleBird, Illinwu and Kawliga like this.

Sep 6, 2022, 9:47 am

#1515

36902BRF

Join Date: Aug 2013

Posts: 1,710

Quote:

Originally Posted by nk15

I'd rather see them remove the 5% and bring back the 3x miles. I am pretty sure they will see the sales slump at some point and bring it back.

Ha I am the exact reverse if I had to chose my poison as I can liquidate these cards pretty easily and at scale so I hope the 5% lasts beyond 9/11. But that said I agree without the 5% I am not a buyer even at 3x except if there is an additional portal bonus so I agree the 3x is likely back at some point unless they decide discounted GCs is the better deal for them.

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