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How I tripled my AirPods warranty with this credit card

Matt MoffittContributing editor
Matt Moffitt is a contributing editor and expert in getting the most out of credit cards and points (he carries at least 25 cards in his wallet at any given time). Originally from Sydney, Australia, he won the Green Card Lottery and lived in Austin, Texas for 10 years before relocating to Spain in 2025.

March 12, 2025 • 8 min read

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Quick summary

The article details the author's process for finding the best deal on wireless earbuds, balancing price with valuable shopping protections.
Comparing direct purchases with third-party retailers, the author chose a discounted option at a major online merchant, factoring in available gift cards and rewards points.
Shopping protections such as purchase protection and extended warranty were prioritized over maximizing rewards earnings.
The author highlights the importance of understanding how payment methods, including gift cards, affect warranty coverage.

What to consider

Extended warranty and purchase protection benefits vary widely by card and issuer, with some offering up to two years of additional coverage.
Only the portion of a purchase paid with an eligible credit card or rewards points is covered by extended warranty or purchase protection; gift card payments are excluded.
Redeeming rewards points for purchases may yield less value compared to transferring them for travel, per TPG's March 2025 valuations.

What you'll miss from the article

A step-by-step guide to weighing shopping protections versus rewards earnings when making tech purchases, and tips for maximizing warranty coverage.

Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.

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.

How I found the best price on AirPods

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:

Earn up to $15 worth of miles with Apple by clicking through one of the airline shopping portals
Receive a $50 discount through Amazon or Walmart

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).

The shopping protections that mattered to me

I then needed to decide which credit card to use. I wanted to ensure my AirPods were covered by two shopping protections:

Purchase protection
An extended warranty

These shopping protections tend to offer up to $10,000 of coverage per claim (or $50,000 of coverage per year).

Purchase protection

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.

Extended warranty

This benefit is more important to me. Extended warranty provided by a credit card usually extends the manufacturer's warranty by:

One to two years — if the manufacturer's warranty is one to five years
Matching it — if the warranty is under a year

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.

Why I chose my Citi Rewards+ Card

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.

Purchase protection is quite standard

Ninety- to 120-day purchase protection is the norm.

However, the maximum claim amounts vary significantly, from $500 on the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (see rates and fees) to $10,000 on more premium cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees). My AirPods would easily fit under either maximum.

Extended warranty varies more

The most generous issuers when it comes to extended warranties are:

Capital One (World Elite Mastercards only*)
Citi

They tend to offer up to two years of coverage for extended warranties, whereas American Express and Chase usually max out at one year.

*Card examples include the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card; the Visa-issued Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers the standard one year.

capital one bank — Capital One's World Elite Mastercards offer longer extended warranties than other Capital One cards. WYATT SMITH/THE POINTS GUY

Citi has not historically had the best reputation among credit card issuers when it comes to shopping protections. It removed them from many of its cards in 2019 and has slowly been reintroducing them over the past couple of years, so I was surprised to see it on the list.

The Citi short list

I logged into my Citi account and navigated to the card benefits section. I'm glad I dove deep at this stage because my Citi Custom Cash® Card only offers to double the warranty (meaning I'd get two years in total, including Apple's warranty) and didn't have purchase protection at all.

Conversely, my Citi Rewards+® Card (no longer available) offers a two-year extended warranty (totaling three years with Apple's warranty included) and purchase protection for the first 90 days — I had found my winner.

The information for the Citi Custom Cash and Citi Rewards+ has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Given I was planning on making my purchase with a combination of my Amazon gift card and the rest on my credit card, I made sure to thoroughly check the benefits guide, which stated:

"You must pay for the item at least in part with Your Citi® Card and/or ThankYou® Points."

Doing the math

When I reached the Amazon checkout screen, I selected my gift card as well as my Citi Rewards+ Card.

I'd linked my Citi card previously, so it gave me the option to redeem my paltry Citi ThankYou Rewards balance of 911 points for $7.29. While this 0.8 cents per point redemption value is less than half of what we believe Citi points to be worth (according to TPG's March 2025 valuations), I do not currently have a Citi card that turns these into fully transferable points, so I took the bait.

The total $215 purchase price (including taxes) was covered by:

$162 on my Citi Rewards+ Card
$46 with an Amazon gift card**
$7 with Citi ThankYou Rewards points

**In hindsight, I should've saved the Amazon gift card for another purchase. In the event that I need to submit an extended warranty claim, it will only cover the portion paid with my Citi Rewards+ Card and Citi points (i.e., $169 instead of the full $215). Lesson learned.

And while I only earned 1 point per dollar spent on the $162 portion (half of what I would've earned if I had used my Venture X), I valued the shopping protections above the points earned.

Bottom line

Earning the highest number of points is not always the sole factor in making a purchase.

While the AirPods price was low — and certainly significantly cheaper than buying a new laptop or phone — valuable shopping protections (in the form of purchase protection and an extended warranty) were the main factors in deciding on my payment method.

Now I can rest easy knowing that if any defects arise with my AirPods over the next three years, the repair or replacement cost will be (mostly) covered by either Apple or Citi. I have saved my purchase e-receipt to my Google Drive, will keep my Citi Rewards+ Card open for the next three years and will avoid using gift cards as partial payments on important purchases like this one in the future.

And I'll rest even more peacefully on my upcoming trip now that my new fully functional AirPods can block out aircraft noise while I bop to Anitta on my flight to Brazil.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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