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)
Jul 5, 2022, 9:38 pm
#1141
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: LBB
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 48
It took a little over 3 months and 4 emails from me, but I finally got my 3000 points from my WSJ Wine purchase in March. It was labeled as "ASM Customer Service Bonus", but I got the miles and LPs, so whatever.
Jul 5, 2022, 9:57 pm
#1142
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,405
Pay your bills! Our city utilities portal accepts GCs so I'm 2-3 months ahead on that. Tmobile also accepts GCs so I've gotten ahead on those also. Can't figure out a way to use them for Cox cable though which is annoying me a great deal.
Jul 5, 2022, 10:01 pm
#1143
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,669
Electric, phone, cable, and internet bills, I just load all the leftovers from the giftcards there as pre-payments...
Jul 5, 2022, 10:07 pm
#1144
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: 4,551
All of these are good ideas, but they still limit you to the scope of bills you can pay online or over the phone with credit cards.
Since my health insurance is $1500 a month, I haven't had much of a problem so far, but that will change in a few months when I turn 65 and go on Medicare. As noted upthread, my plan is to use them to pay my credit card bills at Walmart. This works, although depending on your local Walmart it might not be trivial.
Since my health insurance is $1500 a month, I haven't had much of a problem so far, but that will change in a few months when I turn 65 and go on Medicare. As noted upthread, my plan is to use them to pay my credit card bills at Walmart. This works, although depending on your local Walmart it might not be trivial.
Jul 5, 2022, 10:13 pm
#1145
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: KHOU/KIAH
Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 11,257
Also, say you have a bill that is 400 USD. Unless they let you prepay or perform multiple payment options, how do you pay above the 250 max per card?
similar question..how do you get to 1500? Prepay or multiple GCs?
Jul 5, 2022, 10:21 pm
#1146
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
I also had a few doctor's bills this month for copays of $25-45 and paid those online with the GCs. And I know I'll have ultrasound copays coming up of $100 each.
I also don't use it every week - maybe once every 6 weeks, but i've been enjoying Home Chef, and I'll buy a Home Chef gift card on giftcards.com for the exact amount before the order is processed each time.
Jul 6, 2022, 4:40 am
#1147
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
I also use them for online purchases through the portal sometimes (double dip) but that's actually rare because I don't actually buy very much stuff. It's mostly bill payments and subscriptions.
Jul 6, 2022, 11:57 am
#1148
Join Date: Apr 2022
Location: ATL
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 113
Well, after a few months I finally got a reply back on my Bright Cellars order:
This is complete crap since on the same day I also made a giftcards purchase that tracked and did everything exactly the same. Is there anything else I can do at this point?
I am following up with you today regarding your order inquiry for Bright Cellars.
Allow me to inform you that the merchant has concluded the research on this transaction and has notified us that unfortunately this order # 1832952 is not eligible for rewards.
Please know that merchants pay commissions to AAdvantage eShopping and we convert that commission into rewards that we credit to your account. In this case, the merchant has indicated that the commission for this order 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 you or household members may belong to, commission could have been awarded to that account if that account was not properly logged out of at the time of the purchase, or cookies could still be active at the time of the purchase.
We appreciate your understanding in this matter.
Allow me to inform you that the merchant has concluded the research on this transaction and has notified us that unfortunately this order # 1832952 is not eligible for rewards.
Please know that merchants pay commissions to AAdvantage eShopping and we convert that commission into rewards that we credit to your account. In this case, the merchant has indicated that the commission for this order 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 you or household members may belong to, commission could have been awarded to that account if that account was not properly logged out of at the time of the purchase, or cookies could still be active at the time of the purchase.
We appreciate your understanding in this matter.
Jul 6, 2022, 8:04 pm
#1150
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,405
no1cub17 , nk15 , redtop43 , chrisny2 , VegasGambler - Thank you very much. (hope I didn't miss anyone and if I did, thank you too!)
Jul 7, 2022, 12:21 am
#1151
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: 4,551
They just allow you to prepay? Or how do you get ahead?
Also, say you have a bill that is 400 USD. Unless they let you prepay or perform multiple payment options, how do you pay above the 250 max per card?
similar question..how do you get to 1500? Prepay or multiple GCs?
Also, say you have a bill that is 400 USD. Unless they let you prepay or perform multiple payment options, how do you pay above the 250 max per card?
similar question..how do you get to 1500? Prepay or multiple GCs?
If I do it by phone, I can do multiple payments of $250, but there's a catch. I can't pay more than I owe but they don't update right away. So let's say I owe $500 but want to pay $1000. I can do it as long as I do the overpayments before the account updates, which generally takes about 24 hours.
Note that I'm eligible for a significant Obamacare subsidy, but I don't take an "advance premium credit" as it's called. It's added back into my tax refund.
However, at this point I only have $2000 more to pay them and then I switch to Medicare.
On another note, I once needed a $5K spend to get a SUB on an Amex card. I called my solar provider and paid them $5000. As a result, I haven't had a bill from them for years ($92 a month) and I have maybe another year before I will owe them any money.
Jul 7, 2022, 12:23 am
#1152
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: 4,551
Has anyone used the generic GC's to buy AA GC's?
It's a shame that the shopping portal doesn't sell AA GC's.
It's a shame that the shopping portal doesn't sell AA GC's.
Jul 7, 2022, 6:48 am
#1153
Join Date: Apr 2011
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, AA ExecPlat, Amtrak Select Exec, former WN apologist
Posts: 1,428
Jul 7, 2022, 4:44 pm
#1154
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,405
Is there no way to currently get a fee-free Visa GC then? I was scrolling up and it looks like the "free" Visa GC option has gone away. $5.95 for 1000 LPs isn't the worst deal in the world but still!
Jul 7, 2022, 5:42 pm
#1155
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
The fee free Visa was possibly an oversight. It did not last long. Giftcardmall actually discontinued the product (so giftcards.com can't sell it).
Nothing lasts forever. And the better deals last less time than the average ones.