Dear travel problem solver: I recently tried to book a plane ticket with Aeromexico using my Chase points. After seeing and confirming the provision of an award flight on partner airline Virgin Atlantic, I transferred 37,000 Chase points to Virgin Atlantic twice to book the flight. When I clicked “Buy,” I received an error message and was unable to finish the booking.
I called Virgin who told me that Aeromexico had not released the flight to them and that they were unable to press a button to book the flight, though it was advertised in several places including their website.
I attempted to get the points refunded, but Chase now says the points can’t be refunded to my account. Can you help me?
ANSWER: Chase is true – and mistaken. Yes, the points only apply a method, but there are occasions when such rules mustn’t apply.
For the uninitiated, here's how these transfers work: You collect points by making purchases together with your bank card. You then transfer these points to the airline's loyalty program. And as I've mentioned several times, when you press the button, there's no going back on these transfers.
Chase point transfers are almost at all times irreversible, however the actual rules are a bit confusing. To discover your rights, you'll must read Chase's terms and conditions, in addition to those of your airline and partner airline. When I looked through the correspondence between you, Chase and Virgin Atlantic, it turned out that each had policies that stated that the points were only valid a method, and it looked like each your bank card company and… Your airline adhered to their terms and conditions.
It's really obscure your interactions with Chase and Virgin Atlantic. They calmly explained that there was a mistake, most certainly made by the third party Aeromexico. But neither company would enable you fix the issue. You spent 74,000 Virgin Atlantic points but received nothing in return.
Actually it shouldn't be that complicated. If a flight is listed as available on a web site, it ought to be available. If Chase or Virgin Atlantic need to create a highly complex rewards program with multiple airlines – and you desire to take part in it – that's high quality, so long as it really works as promised. But it didn't give you the results you want as promised.
My best advice for avoiding these kind of problems is to avoid using an advanced rewards program. Buy your ticket as a substitute. Remember that the one real winners are the bank card corporations and airlines.
Appealing to the next level might need helped you get a quicker resolution. I list the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of Chase and Virgin Atlantic customer support representatives on my consumer advocacy website. Elliott.org.
I contacted Chase in your behalf. It refunded your points.
Originally published:
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