Complete Guide: Earning Airpoints Dollars at the Airpoints Mall
This guide was originally published on Points Hacks New Zealand and how now been updated here.
Airpoints Mall is Air New Zealand’s version of an online shopping portal, allowing Airpoints members to earn Airpoints Dollars on purchases from a range of online partner retailers.
These ‘online malls’ work by getting you to click through to a partner retailer, then tracking your purchases to award bonus points to your loyalty account. The mall makes a cut of the commission and then shares the rest with you.
The Air New Zealand Airpoints Mall is New Zealand’s largest, with around 140 retailers.
You can access the Airpoints mall at airnewzealand.co.nz/airpoints-mall.
How do I earn Airpoints with the Airpoints Mall?
The main way to enter the shopping portal is to head to the Airpoints Mall website on a desktop, laptop or tablet.
The Airpoints online mall works by tracking the purchases you make at participating retailers, so it can credit you with Airpoints for each dollar you spend.
You’ll earn an average of 1-3% back on your spend in the form of Airpoints Dollars.
To start, head to the Airpoints Mall home page and log in to your Airpoints account.
Click on the retailer you wish to shop at. The page will tell you how many Airpoints you can earn per dollar, plus any applicable promo codes you can use.
Complete your purchase on the retailer’s website. Do not visit other websites during this time, or your purchase might not track
When you have checked out, that’s it! Sit tight and wait for the points to credit. You will usually receive an email like the one below showing that the tracking was successful:
Example of successful tracking of an Airpoints Mall purchase
From my experience, the tracking and deposit of the Airpoints Dollars into your account is much quicker than it is with other cashback sites. However the trade-off for this is the lower return than you can find using sites like Cashrewards or Kiwiwallet for example.
Which retailers let you earn Airpoints Dollars with Airpoints Mall?
You can see the full list of retailers and their current earn rate on the Airpoints Mall website.
Vouchers and Special Offers
The Airpoints Mall provides a list of vouchers that can be used to save money at some of the different retailers. Be wary using promo codes not provided on this page, as this could preclude any Airpoints Dollars earn due to the way the affiliate arrangements work between Airpoints and the retailers.
What else do I need to know when using the Airpoints Mall?
Some retailers may have exclusions on products that won’t earn Airpoints Dollars, such as buying gift cards or when a transaction is paid using gift cards. These conditions can be found on the retailer’s offer page and apply in addition to the overall Airpoints Mall Terms and Conditions.
The Airpoints Mall relies on digital cookies to track your purchases. That means you should ensure nothing is blocking cookies or ads on the pages you wish to visit.
To ensure successful tracking of purchases, make sure you click through the retailer on the Airpoints Mall while logged in to your Airpoints account. It’s best not to visit any other web pages on that device until the transaction is completed.
I often recommend using a computer for purchases instead of mobile, as this more often than not ensures that tracking will be successful.
If you do visit other pages or fail to make a transaction, make sure to click back through the Airpoints Mall website on your next attempt, to ensure the transaction is tracked correctly.
Summing up
The Airpoints Mall is an easy option if you’re looking to earn more Airpoints Dollars from your general online spending in New Zealand — so make sure to get across the full list of partners on the mall portal to maximise your points earning potential.
If you can understand how online malls work and how important it is to click out to a retailer through the Airpoints Mall before making a transaction, then earning bonus points on purchases will become second-nature, and not an inconvenience.
Though I’m frequently having to remind people in my family when they make purchases that they should always check with me first as to where they can get cashback from.
Don’t forget to double-dip by paying with a points-earning rewards credit card — it doesn’t necessarily need to be affiliated with Airpoints!