Feb 18, 2015, 5:57 pm

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

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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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Mar 14, 2023, 10:03 am

#2386

Lonedaddy

Join Date: Jul 2022

Posts: 344

Anyone else have issues with viator ? I'm getting ready to submit to the FTC for deceptive practices and outright fraud. I keep getting the runaround from cartera on this as well as a target optical order. I only book viator from the aashopping site and some orders are no problem. This happened to be a larger 1800 mile order. and the fact they couldn't give me an answer why is troubling.

I got this email from cartera :I am following up with you today regarding your order inquiry.

The merchant has concluded the research on this transaction and has notified us that this order is not eligible for rewards.

Merchants pay commissions to us and we convert that commission into rewards that we credit to your account. The merchant has indicated that the commission for order # 1266717606 was payable to another party outside of our network.

How can this happen?

• Clicking on another shopping link to price compare, search for discounts/coupons, or a simple product search can result in a last click not being attributed to your account.
• Using discounts not offered on the shopping site, or discounts in mailers, or with credit card offers.
• Please check any other award/loyalty programs that you or your household members may belong to. It is possible that the commission could have been awarded to that account if that account was not properly logged out at the time of purchase, or cookies could still be active from that account at the time of purchase.

We appreciate your understanding in this matter.
and responded again with:Either AAShopping or Viator is being deceptive. I have tried to find out on viator who the commission was paid to if any and they can’t seem to give an answer. So basically I see fraud and deception here whether it is on AAshopping cartera or viator and this is not the first time as the target optical order was the same nonsense. I feel if you are unable to provide legitimate answers or operate the program correctly the FTC needs to be involved. I will give you another chance to research this.

This is my chat:

[03/14/2023 09:14:24 PM]

[09:14:54 PM] Jobee - Customer Service Agent: Hello my name is Jobee it will be my pleasure to assist you today.

[09:17:23 PM] Michael l: please escalate this to the appropriate department I book a lot on viator and I am very dissatisfied with viator itself. I would be glad to open a case with the FTC for deceptive trade practices

[09:20:07 PM] Jobee - Customer Service Agent: Thank for raising this concern to us. May I ask if you are a travel agent?

[09:20:23 PM] Michael l: no I am not

[09:20:53 PM] Michael l: I book on my own and always use the aadvantage shopping link to viator

[09:21:33 PM] Michael l: so who got the commission that order ? It should be the aashopping

[09:22:17 PM] Jobee - Customer Service Agent: We dont have an option to check the commission on our end. Where did you book this one

[09:23:16 PM] Michael l: It was booked on viator from the aashopping link like all my other orders. please escalate this because someone is being deceptive and illegal.

[09:25:14 PM] Jobee - Customer Service Agent: You dont have to worry I will do my best to help you with this one.

[09:26:02 PM] Michael l: I don't expect an answer today but I do want an answer to my email at some point or I will go to the FTC as this is absolute nonsense and fraud.

[09:28:48 PM] Jobee - Customer Service Agent: I'm still checking on it.

[09:34:59 PM] Jobee - Customer Service Agent: I am still here. Please give me just a few more moments. I appreciate your patience.

[09:35:50 PM] Michael l: ok

[09:40:34 PM] Jobee - Customer Service Agent: Thank you for patiently waiting. Since you book to the AA Shopping you can contact them directly since we dont have an option on our end to check the commission.

[09:41:28 PM] Michael l: they said viator did not pay them a comission and viator said it was paid to someone else hence my asking you who was it paid to?

[09:43:10 PM] Jobee - Customer Service Agent: As much as I want to assist you, we dont have an option to check it on our end.

[09:43:47 PM] Michael l: so Please escalate this to your management

[09:44:07 PM] Michael l: or give me an email to send this transcript to

[09:46:00 PM] Jobee - Customer Service Agent: You can contact this number directly 1-866-648-5873 (Toll Free; within US only)

702-648-5873 (International)

[09:46:34 PM] Michael l: and is that just another help desk or managment?

[09:51:26 PM] Jobee - Customer Service Agent: Its a Viator Phone number. However, if you're going to call them you will received the same answer since you link your booking to AAshopping.

Mar 14, 2023, 10:08 am

#2387

sxpsxpsxp

Join Date: Feb 2002

Location: BOS

Programs: AA EXP 1MM, DL PM, Bonvoy Titanium (Plat Life), HH G, Amtrak, B6, MR

Posts: 1,551

Quote:

Originally Posted by sxpsxpsxp

It's interesting because I think the T&Cs could be interpreted either way. My experience is the same -- I bought a membership and some products, and only the membership tracked. I am currently having an email exchange with customer service to get an official ruling/clarification.

What's annoying, though, is that if you do a product search on the AA shopping site, and Thrive Market carries the products, you get back results implying you could get the 20 miles/dollar on that purchase of the products. They really should turn that off if they're only paying out on the membership.

Just FYI, customer support confirmed that Thrive Market only pays for membership purchase. They don't care that their products come back in search results making it look like they earn miles when in fact they don't. Annoying.

Mar 14, 2023, 1:08 pm

#2388

tommybananas

Join Date: Aug 2022

Programs: UA Silver, AA Plat Pro

Posts: 93

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lonedaddy

How can AAdvantage eShopping / Cartera say they don't know if they got a commission for your Viator booking? I guarantee Cartera knows who paid them when and what. That is a bad answer. Plus, they should not be telling you to go to Viator. Cartera is the middle-man who offered you the points. I would include Cartera in my complaint to whomever you complain to.

Mar 14, 2023, 3:25 pm

#2389

AirborneLocksmith

Join Date: Oct 2022

Location: Sub Carolina

Programs: AC, AA, TK, OW Emerald

Posts: 1,339

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lonedaddy

[09:17:23 PM] Michael l: please escalate this to the appropriate department I book a lot on viator and I am very dissatisfied with viator itself. I would be glad to open a case with the FTC for deceptive trade practices

You expect an outsourced Cartera CS rep who is instructed to stick to his script to know how to help you with that?

Mar 14, 2023, 3:36 pm

#2390

VegasGambler

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Oct 2014

Posts: 10,904

Quote:

Originally Posted by AirborneLocksmith

You expect an outsourced Cartera CS rep who is instructed to stick to his script to know how to help you with that?

Seriously, this script is a lesson in how not to get anywhere with customer service.

GNRMatt and AirborneLocksmith like this.

Mar 15, 2023, 6:39 am

#2391

tommybananas

Join Date: Aug 2022

Programs: UA Silver, AA Plat Pro

Posts: 93

Quote:

Originally Posted by tommybananas

Back in December and January I made a lot of purchases through AA eShopping / Viator. I am expecting well over 10,000 loyalty points from these purchases, a large part of my requalification plans for this year. If you don't know, Viator sells tours (like shore excursions, city tours, etc.) The miles do not post until the tour is completed. All of the tours I purchased are taking place well after March 1 when the Loyalty Points resets to zero. I am very concerned that all of the loyalty points I will earn from my numerous Viator tours will be backdated to last year. As an example, I also purchased a Viator tour in December, and took the tour in late January. When the tour was finally completed, the miles posted to AA and they were backdated as of the early December purchase date. That did not matter since the purchase and tour both took place in the same loyalty points year.

This is very concerning to me. 10,000 points posting to last year is not enough to push me over from Platinum to Platinum Pro, so I need these 10,000 LPs to count for this year.

I've put a ticked into Cartera/AA eShopping, but no matter what they say, I am worried. I'd cancel the tours and rebook, but the prices have gone up a lot, the miles offer has gone down a lot, blah blah....

Thanks if you know!

Sadly (for me) I received this response from Cartera:

Thank you for the opportunity to be of assistance.

Please be aware that the transactions get transferred to your American Airlines AAdvantage account by order date, therefore, the Viator orders that you are mentioning will get transferred by the date you placed/booked these orders. However, if you cancel these orders please keep in mind that the rewards might be denied or reversed.

I hope this information was useful; if you have any other doubts or concerns, please feel free to contact us again.

I guess you can book a tour with Viator / AA eShopping in December 2022, take a tour the following October 2023, and in November or December 2023 they are going to give you Loyalty Points for 2022. This is useless to me so now I am going to cancel all my Viator tours with AA eShopping (I spent a few thousand dollars on this) and book them somewhere else where I get 10-12% cash back. I'm very disappointed because I had a 9x or 10x promotion and those 20-30k LPs were a huge part of my 2023 strategy. I wonder how AA is going to deal with people getting LP's backdated by almost a year.

Mar 15, 2023, 10:00 am

#2392

Lonedaddy

Join Date: Jul 2022

Posts: 344

Quote:

Originally Posted by tommybananas

Agree useless as opposed to hilton which posted after the stay date

Mar 15, 2023, 10:02 am

#2393

Lonedaddy

Join Date: Jul 2022

Posts: 344

Quote:

Originally Posted by AirborneLocksmith

You expect an outsourced Cartera CS rep who is instructed to stick to his script to know how to help you with that?

No nor a viator rep which is why I asked them to escalate this to someone with a brain if that exists.

Mar 15, 2023, 10:26 am

#2394

Drwaz99

Join Date: Mar 2019

Programs: AA EXP and Marriott Titanium

Posts: 776

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lonedaddy

No nor a viator rep which is why I asked them to escalate this to someone with a brain if that exists.

Maybe try a BBB complaint? I had to go through the same crap a couple years ago with a Marriott booking and once I filed a complaint, it was resolved in a few days. At that time, the director/manager of customer service is the one who responded to my complaint. Worth a shot when all else fails.

https://www.bbb.org/us/ma/lexington/...nc-0021-123658

Mar 15, 2023, 10:29 am

#2395

Lonedaddy

Join Date: Jul 2022

Posts: 344

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drwaz99

Sounds like a good idea, I would think that neither viator nor AA nor Cartera want the government (FTC) looking at their programs.

Mar 15, 2023, 10:31 am

#2396

nk15

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2014

Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances

Posts: 11,672

They are probably trained not to be intimated by threats of the FTC and to stick to their bs.

AirborneLocksmith likes this.

Mar 15, 2023, 1:34 pm

#2397

tommybananas

Join Date: Aug 2022

Programs: UA Silver, AA Plat Pro

Posts: 93

Cartera tells me that it is up to Viator to decide what the order date will be for the purchase. Viator tells me it is up to Cartera. Neither of them wants to deal with this. If my payment date for a tour booked through Viator is in May, then I want the miles in May, not in September of the year before when I booked the tour with a "pay later" option. I'm getting around 20k in useless expired LPs and this is complete nonsense. Does anyone have a supervisor's contact information for either Cartera or Viator?

Mar 15, 2023, 4:07 pm

#2398

paranoiatx

Join Date: May 2009

Location: Seattle, WA

Programs: UA MM *G, AA EXP, OW Emerald, Hyatt Globalist, Gold everywhere else

Posts: 833

Quote:

Originally Posted by tommybananas

I recently discovered that booking.com purchases through the eShopping portal have the same problem. The points post 60 days after the stay is completed, but are back-dated to when that stay was booked. That's true even when the stay isn't prepaid.

These vendors create some "fun" corner cases if those points take you across a status qualification boundary in a previous year.