AS visa declined on alaska.com - systems down

[dgwright99]

I was just making some changes to some upcoming flights online. I made changes to the first 3 flights with no problems, paying with my signature visa. Then, when I tried to pay for the 4th change, I got a message back that the card was declined. I tried it again a coupl eof time to make sure that I had typed in the card #, etc, OK - but still no go. So, I paid with my Alaska Platinum visa - no problem.

So, then I call B of A to find out why they declined my card (I'm nowhere near my limit, on only ever use the card on Alaska.com) - and I get a message saying that their systems are down, and their agents can't see account info, so call back later unless it's a lost/stolen card.

What seems odd is that they should decline one card, but not the other.

Anybody else had anything similar happen to them this evening ?

[beckoa]

Originally Posted by dgwright99

I was just making some changes to some upcoming flights online. I made changes to the first 3 flights with no problems, paying with my signature visa. Then, when I tried to pay for the 4th change, I got a message back that the card was declined. I tried it again a coupl eof time to make sure that I had typed in the card #, etc, OK - but still no go. So, I paid with my Alaska Platinum visa - no problem.

So, then I call B of A to find out why they declined my card (I'm nowhere near my limit, on only ever use the card on Alaska.com) - and I get a message saying that their systems are down, and their agents can't see account info, so call back later unless it's a lost/stolen card.

What seems odd is that they should decline one card, but not the other.

Anybody else had anything similar happen to them this evening ?

These were separate changes -ie transactions... right? It seems like its a transaction limit- to prevent fraud maybe (pure speculation) since you had several charges within a few minutes... and having BoA's system down was probably the straw that broke the camel's back... they limited our ability to spend since they don't know what the heck is going on... like going back to the days of the carbon slider device

Then again I could be wrong

[dgwright99]

Originally Posted by beckoa

These were separate changes -ie transactions... right? It seems like its a transaction limit- to prevent fraud maybe (pure speculation) since you had several charges within a few minutes... and having BoA's system down was probably the straw that broke the camel's back... they limited our ability to spend since they don't know what the heck is going on... like going back to the days of the carbon slider device

Then again I could be wrong

Good thought - though with the fare sale on, the changes were costing me only $10-20 each. I guess it could be a transaction limit - limiting to 3 transactions in a few minutes makes sense as a fraud prevention measure if their systems are down.

[missydarlin]

Originally Posted by dgwright99

Good thought - though with the fare sale on, the changes were costing me only $10-20 each. I guess it could be a transaction limit - limiting to 3 transactions in a few minutes makes sense as a fraud prevention measure if their systems are down.

I have a different credit card that is notorious for freezing up on me when I'm booking multiple travel arrangements.

I know there have been some comments from Golds at the lunches about this kind of thing with B of A. I know that Mileage Plan has talked to them about it, but I don't know if they've gotten through the message that people with Airline Affinity cards are commonly booking multiple travel, or spending in different states on the same day.

[jackal]

In my experience in retail, BofA cards were by far the worst (best?) when it came to fraud holds.

Of course, it didn't help that we were usually the first charge customers would make when arriving in Alaska, and every transaction we did required at least two high-dollar card authorizations (and sometimes more, if there were adjustments).

But when the hold was placed, we'd see a message to "CALL ND" (as opposed to "CARD DECLINED"), which meant we had to call our card authorization center, who would usually forward us onto the customer's card-issuing bank. The bank would speak with the customer and verify his/her information and then release the hold, allowing us to use the card. They'd either give us an authorization number manually or we could just run the card again.

I've noticed that online merchants will usually just display a notice that the card has declined, even when, internally, their systems are seeing the "CALL ND" message. It makes sense, since there really isn't a way for the system to do what a human at the POS can do. Still, some note that your bank has placed a hold rather than straight declining would be nice (the POS terminal *can* tell the difference).

If you're experiencing trouble with your BofA card, you might be able to release the hold at https://www.myfraudprotection.com. (That is a legitimate BofA site--I wrote BofA and told them that they really should make it a sub-domain of bankofamerica.com, since people would [rightfully] be skeptical of entering personal information in a random site like that, even though I got it in the mail from BofA on BofA letterhead, and, actually, I seem to recall that, last time I checked (it only lets you log in when they suspect fraudulent activity, after which it displays your recent transactions and asks you to confirm them), they did redirect that URL to a subdomain of BofA...if not, you might be able to verify the WHOIS on it, though I seem to recall that was ambiguous, too.)

[missydarlin]

your url does not go to any B of A related site?

[jackal]

Originally Posted by missydarlin

your url does not go to any B of A related site?

You were too fast...literally seconds after I posted, I verified what I had typed and realized I put the wrong one in (...prevention instead of ...protection). I edited the post to correct that. Took a minute, but I'm doing this all on my iPhone!

Don't you have more important things to do than check FT every 30 seconds?