How I Earned More Than 15,000 Points and Miles on a $1,500 Tire Purchase

Spring is here, and my Tesla’s aging winter tires need to be replaced with all-season tires. It’s not the most glamorous purchase — but as any points enthusiast knows, boring, necessary spending is often an earning opportunity in disguise.

And with Tesla tires, “everyday expense” is doing some heavy lifting. I have a Model 3 Performance with large 20-inch wheels, so I spent just over $1,500 after taxes for my tires. If I’m going to spend that much money on something mundane, I’m going to try to earn as many points as possible.

In the end, I earned more than 15,000 points across 4 of my favorite loyalty programs. Here’s a look at how I stacked rewards on my tire purchase and how many points I earned with each program.

My Stacking Strategy for Earning Maximum Points

When it comes to buying tires, you usually have 2 options. You can buy them online, have them shipped to your house, and have a mechanic install them. Or you can buy them from a local tire shop and have them installed there. I’m usually all about shopping local, but I wanted a specific set that my local tire shop didn’t have in stock — so online it was.

After comparing several retailers, prices were fairly similar across the board. So, I went to find the best points stack. I ultimately bought my tires through Tire Agent because I was able to stack 2 lucrative airline offers and earn points with my credit card.

How I Earned Atmos Rewards Points and American AAdvantage Miles

Tire Agent is a relatively new, New York City-based online retailer that carries most major brands. They had the tires I wanted — a set of Pirelli P Zero AS Plus 3 Elect — in stock for $364.77 per tire. My total came out to $1,588.57 after tax. That’s not cheap, but it was worth it for a set of quality performance tires that have to endure New York City’s pothole-ridden streets.

Here’s where things got fun (and rewarding). Tire Agent is listed on most major travel and cash-back shopping portals. Right now, I’m trying to earn Alaska Atmos Gold elite status and rack up Atmos Rewards points, so I shopped through the Atmos Shopping portal.

At the time of my purchase, Tire Agent was offering a whopping 5 points per $1 spent through the Atmos Shopping portal. My pretax total of $1,459.08 earned me 7,295 Atmos Rewards points on my tire purchase. Upgraded Points currently values Atmos Rewards points at 1.6 cents per point, so I earned roughly $117 worth of Atmos Rewards points from this purchase.

But it doesn’t stop there. Tire Agent had an offer listed on American Airlines’ SimplyMiles card-linked offers portal at the time. SimplyMiles lets you add offers to your Mastercard credit or debit cards and earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles when you shop with specific merchants. Offers come and go, so check the portal before making any big purchases.

The SimplyMiles offer listed 6 miles per $1 spent (up to 4,650 miles). I earned the maximum 4,650 miles on my purchase, which is worth roughly $65 based on our current AAdvantage valuation of 1.4 cents per mile.

Tire Agent makes regular appearances on SimplyMiles, but promotions vary. At the time of writing, you can earn 4 miles per $1 spent through Tire Agent when you spend $300 or more (expires May 31, 2026).

Between Atmos Shopping and SimplyMiles alone, I earned 11,945 airline miles before even factoring in my credit card. Better yet, these are among the most valuable types of airline miles, given that both have traditional award charts for partner award tickets.

Why I Paid With the Citi Strata Elite

I ended up paying for my tires with the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card, which has a handful of bonus categories largely focused on dining and Citi Travel bookings. The card also earns 1.5 Citi ThankYou Points per $1 spent on all other spending. It’s a World Legend Mastercard, too, meaning I could link it to SimplyMiles to use the Tire Agent offer on my account.

Citi Strata Elite℠ Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

The Citi Strata Elite card is Citi's most premium card built for frequent travelers and foodies.

Citi Strata Elite℠ Card

The Citi Strata Elite card is Citi's most premium card built for frequent travelers and foodies.

Welcome Offer

Earn 75,000 bonus ThankYou Points after spending $6,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.

75,000 points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

Up to $1,200

Annual Fee

$595

APR

20.49% to 28.49% Variable

Why We Like This Card

The Citi Strata Elite card is a great option for frequent travelers, foodies, and those who are fans of the Citi ThankYou Rewards ecosystem thanks to its combination of bonus categories, perks, and annual credits.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 12x points on hotels, rental cars, and attractions booked through Citi Travel
• 6x points on airfare through Citi Travel
• 6x points on dining on Citi Nights (Friday and Saturday nights from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.) and 3x points on dining at all other times

Cons

• $595 annual fee
• Boosted dining rewards are limited to 2 nights per week

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Card Highlights

• Earn 75,000 bonus ThankYou Points after spending $6,000 within the first 3 months of account opening
• 12x points on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on cititravel.com
• 6x points on air travel booked on cititravel.com
• 6x points at restaurants, including restaurant delivery services, every Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. ET, and 3x points any other time
• 1.5x points on all other purchases
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
• Up to $300 annual hotel benefit
• Up to $200 annual Splurge credit
• Up to $200 annual Blacklane credit
• 4 American Airlines Admirals Club passes every calendar year
• Transfer Citi ThankYou Points to partners like American Airlines
• Complimentary Priority Pass membership
• No foreign transaction fees

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 20.49% to 28.49% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

This card earns fewer points than the Bilt Palladium Card (rates & fees) — another World Legend Mastercard in my wallet, which earns 2 Bilt Points per $1 on everyday spend (offer terms) — but I have an upcoming need for American Airlines AAdvantage miles, which only transfer from Citi ThankYou Points.

Since I paid $1,588.57 after taxes for the set of tires, I earned 2,383 Citi ThankYou Points by paying with my Citi Strata Elite card. We currently value these points at 1.6 cents each, which means my Tire Agent purchase is worth $38.13 in Citi ThankYou Points.

Finally, I had the tires installed at a local tire shop in my neighborhood on Bilt Rent Day. I paid with my Palladium Card, earning 4 points per $1 (up to 1,000 bonus points). It cost $200 to install the tires and recycle my old set, so I earned 800 Bilt Points in the process.

Final Thoughts

All in, I spent $1,588.57 on a new set of Pirelli tires — and earned a total of 15,128 points and miles across 4 programs: 7,295 Atmos Rewards points, 4,650 American AAdvantage miles, 2,383 Citi ThankYou Points, and 800 Bilt Points. Based on our valuations of these points and miles, this is effectively a $234.53 rebate on my purchase.

While buying new tires is rarely cheap, opportunities like this take some of the sting out of the expense. The next time you’re making a big purchase (even a boring one), it’s worth checking for opportunities like shopping portals and card-linked offers. Many seemingly dull purchases have stacking opportunities, so don’t leave points and miles on the table.