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Old 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.

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
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.
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AAdvantage eShopping / Cartera Questions / Discussion / Vendors / Issues (archive)

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Old Sep 7, 2022, 7:53 am
  #1531  
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Originally Posted by njvandy
In my tax jurisdiction, there is a 2.5% fee for credit cards but only a 1% fee for debit cards, which is how these process. It's a no brainer.
Fair enough. Ive been able to liquidate mine on stuff that doesn't charge a fee, so I'm looking at it through that lens.
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Old Sep 7, 2022, 7:54 am
  #1532  
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Originally Posted by nk15
Yea, the code appears on the portal but it doesn't work. I think we need to wait for a while until they bring a promo back, it is now pretty useless...
It's gone from the portal now.
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Old Sep 7, 2022, 8:25 am
  #1533  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, AA ExecPlat, Amtrak Select Exec, former WN apologist
Posts: 1,429
Originally Posted by Antarius
Fair enough. Ive been able to liquidate mine on stuff that doesn't charge a fee, so I'm looking at it through that lens.
Counterintuitively, paying a 1% fee for a transaction you would have otherwise written a check for is actually a better use of the virtual GCs than no-fee CC transactions. You earn an extra ~1% on the transaction net of fee, plus earn ~2% using your "normal" credit card on normal transactions.
njvandy likes this.
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Old Sep 7, 2022, 4:14 pm
  #1534  
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Originally Posted by Mr. BoH
Counterintuitively, paying a 1% fee for a transaction you would have otherwise written a check for is actually a better use of the virtual GCs than no-fee CC transactions. You earn an extra ~1% on the transaction net of fee, plus earn ~2% using your "normal" credit card on normal transactions.
It depends. I have been able to use my GCs on no fee transactions without any issues, so paying 1% would put me behind. Now, this is with the caveat that I am only getting 2k a month. The math changes if that number rises.
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Old Sep 8, 2022, 9:41 am
  #1535  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Between ORD and MKE
Programs: AA ExecPlat; UA 1K
Posts: 147
Using portal for Marriott reservations

With the gift card game on hiatus, searching for other ways to rack up Loyalty Points. I have a large group (3-4 hotel room's worth) of people who need a few nights lodging in Europe next month and they've chosen Marriott brand hotels for 4 of the nights. I noticed today that Marriott is 4 miles/$ today. Questions:

1. If I use the portal to make the reservations, will I get a worse rate than elsewhere?
2. If I use the portal can I still take advantage of my Marriott Platinum Elite benefits (e.g., free breakfast, lounge access, late checkout)? Will I also get Marriott points (double dip)?
3. Can I book up to 4 rooms at the same hotel and get points for all of them even though other people will be paying for 3 of them (I will be there in the 4th room)?
4. Is there any other tradeoff or drawback to using the portal instead of booking through Marriott directly?
5. Am I better off using RocketMiles if available?

TIA for any advice. Going through gift card withdrawal right now.....
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Old Sep 8, 2022, 9:47 am
  #1536  
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Programs: DL PM; UA PS; AA PPro; Marriott Titanium; IHG Diamond
Posts: 56
Originally Posted by McTigerFan
With the gift card game on hiatus, searching for other ways to rack up Loyalty Points. I have a large group (3-4 hotel room's worth) of people who need a few nights lodging in Europe next month and they've chosen Marriott brand hotels for 4 of the nights. I noticed today that Marriott is 4 miles/$ today. Questions:

1. If I use the portal to make the reservations, will I get a worse rate than elsewhere?
2. If I use the portal can I still take advantage of my Marriott Platinum Elite benefits (e.g., free breakfast, lounge access, late checkout)? Will I also get Marriott points (double dip)?
3. Can I book up to 4 rooms at the same hotel and get points for all of them even though other people will be paying for 3 of them (I will be there in the 4th room)?
4. Is there any other tradeoff or drawback to using the portal instead of booking through Marriott directly?
5. Am I better off using RocketMiles if available?

TIA for any advice. Going through gift card withdrawal right now.....
My experience has been that the portal just redirects you to Marriott's website and then you book as normal. I had a weird thing happen on IHG the other day where a certain property wouldn't show up when I used the portal.

1. No
2. Yes - but per Marriott policy only for your room, not your travel companions' rooms (but this is a general policy; nothing to do with the portal)
3. I think if they give you their payment info and you go through the portal you should get miles... not sure.
4. Not that I know of, unless you have a weird glitch like I did where a room doesn't show up (although that was with IHG - haven't had that happen with Marriott). You'll have to wait a while to get your LPs from AA.
5. I think this depends on how much you value LPs vs. Marriott points & elite benefits. You'll certainly earn more LPs with RM, but you won't get the Marriott elite treatment or points (although there have been some DPs of properties honoring elite benefits, it shouldn't be counted on).
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Old Sep 8, 2022, 3:27 pm
  #1537  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Between ORD and MKE
Programs: AA ExecPlat; UA 1K
Posts: 147
Originally Posted by dadgummit
My experience has been that the portal just redirects you to Marriott's website and then you book as normal. I had a weird thing happen on IHG the other day where a certain property wouldn't show up when I used the portal.

1. No
2. Yes - but per Marriott policy only for your room, not your travel companions' rooms (but this is a general policy; nothing to do with the portal)
3. I think if they give you their payment info and you go through the portal you should get miles... not sure.
4. Not that I know of, unless you have a weird glitch like I did where a room doesn't show up (although that was with IHG - haven't had that happen with Marriott). You'll have to wait a while to get your LPs from AA.
5. I think this depends on how much you value LPs vs. Marriott points & elite benefits. You'll certainly earn more LPs with RM, but you won't get the Marriott elite treatment or points (although there have been some DPs of properties honoring elite benefits, it shouldn't be counted on).
Many thanks for the quick reply. I have lifetime Platinum Elite status so don't necessarily need the nights to chase additional hotel status. The Rocket Miles offers are pretty low so I think I'll keep the Marriott benefits instead (in addition to the 4x AA miles/LPs).
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Old Sep 8, 2022, 5:19 pm
  #1538  
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,670
I am curious, has anyone ever had any Marriott LPs post through the AAShopping portal? None of mine ever posted...
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Old Sep 8, 2022, 5:35 pm
  #1539  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Washington DC and Huntsville AL
Programs: Delta, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 94
Originally Posted by nk15
I am curious, has anyone ever had any Marriott LPs post through the AAShopping portal? None of mine ever posted...
none of mine have posted either, even though the terms said ‘commissionsble’
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Old Sep 8, 2022, 6:52 pm
  #1540  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Programs: AA ExecPlat, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond, UA Silver
Posts: 131
Originally Posted by nk15
I am curious, has anyone ever had any Marriott LPs post through the AAShopping portal? None of mine ever posted...
I have 3 stays that are tracked. I submitted a missing credit case and they say they see the order on the website, but it can take 60 days to get the points. It doesn’t make sense to me but whatever. I’m trying a RocketMiles booked stay next week.
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Old Sep 8, 2022, 7:29 pm
  #1541  
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Originally Posted by Cooper21
I have 3 stays that are tracked. I submitted a missing credit case and they say they see the order on the website, but it can take 60 days to get the points. It doesn’t make sense to me but whatever. I’m trying a RocketMiles booked stay next week.
All my RM stays have posted within 3 days of check out.
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Old Sep 9, 2022, 6:50 am
  #1542  
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 134
Anyone have Viator purchases that are tracked, but don't show up in Recent Transactions?

I'm guessing they may not post until after the experience is completed, but I just want to double check.
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Old Sep 9, 2022, 9:02 am
  #1543  
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Miami, FL, USA
Posts: 4,049
I bought one $250 GC and the rest on a single purchase, before I read here that higher amounts take a long time. They all tracked, and I only got LP for the $250 one, as now expected. How long should the rest take?
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Old Sep 9, 2022, 9:40 am
  #1544  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Between ORD and MKE
Programs: AA ExecPlat; UA 1K
Posts: 147
Originally Posted by nk15
I am curious, has anyone ever had any Marriott LPs post through the AAShopping portal? None of mine ever posted...
I booked 16 room nights last night (6 different reservations of two rooms each) for stays in early October in the UK. The total spend is approx. 3k so hoping for 12k LP (and RM) based on yesterday's 4 miles/$. Obviously have to wait for the stays to get the points, but at least all six reservations are showing up this morning under my recent store visits on the portal, complete with reservation numbers, dates, and amounts. It may be worth checking for that next time to make sure it got tracked correctly.
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Old Sep 9, 2022, 11:01 am
  #1545  
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Originally Posted by McTigerFan
I booked 16 room nights last night (6 different reservations of two rooms each) for stays in early October in the UK. The total spend is approx. 3k so hoping for 12k LP (and RM) based on yesterday's 4 miles/$. Obviously have to wait for the stays to get the points, but at least all six reservations are showing up this morning under my recent store visits on the portal, complete with reservation numbers, dates, and amounts. It may be worth checking for that next time to make sure it got tracked correctly.
Mine always track and never post, so I wouldn't necessarily count on them. On the other hand, I never tried to open a ticket because they were mostly for award fees or I changed them later.
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