AirPods are my most prized travel accessory. They provide me with hours of entertainment, connect me with loved ones and filter out noise while on the go.
I had an extraordinarily good run with my last pair, which I bought more than five years ago. AirPods tend to last two to three years before needing to be replaced, so even with heavy daily use, I was lucky to have them working up until very recently.
As with all technology, upgrades are on the docket every few years or so (about as frequent as a free upgrade on a domestic flight), so I wanted to be smart about my next AirPods purchase.
Here is a play-by-play of my research process.
Around the same time I was looking to upgrade, I saw that Apple was offering an elevated 4 miles per dollar spent through airline shopping portals.
I was looking to buy a new pair of AirPods Pro 2, which, at the time, cost the regular price of $249 (plus taxes) when purchased directly from Apple.
However, as I was browsing through technology review sites like Tom's Guide, I saw that Amazon and Walmart were offering the same product with a 20% discount for $199.
I did the quick math, working out I could:
The latter would give me more than triple the return, so I decided to buy them through a third party. I chose Amazon because I had a $46 Amazon gift card handy, but this was a small mistake (as I'll explain later on).
I then needed to decide which credit card to use. I wanted to ensure my AirPods were covered by two shopping protections:
These shopping protections tend to offer up to $10,000 of coverage per claim (or $50,000 of coverage per year).
This insurance benefit covers the reimbursement, replacement or repair of a product from theft or damage within the first 90 to 120 days from purchase.
I'm traveling abroad for the next six weeks, so I wanted an extra layer of protection on top of my travel insurance policy in case my AirPods were stolen or I damaged them in an airplane seat.
Related: The best credit cards for purchase protection
This benefit is more important to me. Extended warranty provided by a credit card usually extends the manufacturer's warranty by:
This perk is especially useful for AirPods, which come with a limited one-year warranty. Given that problems often surface in the second or third year of having them, I wanted the longest extended warranty possible.
Related: The best credit cards for extended warranties
At least half of the 33 credit cards I currently have in my wallet offer shopping protections. I didn't want to go too deep in researching each individual card's benefits for a relatively modest purchase, so I referenced TPG guides to compare which issuers offer the most generous benefits — and I was surprised with what I found.
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