Originally Posted by
Happy
That is why you use refundable fare! In case it makes you to actually purchase the ticket... even though so far it has not forced anyone to buy a ticket.
So I did the application the other night. As seems to be the fashion, I booked a refundable one-way, JFK-LHR, and the offer came up. Went through the application, received instant approval. I got some message saying that I had not yet paid for my ticket and I was supposed to click to complete the purchase. Since I didn't actually want to go to London just then, I closed the window. All good, I thought.
This morning I got a call from a woman who said she was from fraud prevention at British Airways and wanted to know if I had applied for a BA credit card. I said indeed I had. She proceeded to verify some other contact information, and then she asked about the plane ticket. I said, well, I had been in process but I hadn't completed the purchase. That's when she told me that I had an authorization -- she didn't say purchase -- for $1314.17 already on the card, and that if I didn't want to make that purchase then after I receive my card and call to activate it, I should tell the agent.
I have to say I'm a little confused about what, if anything, I should do. The purchase certainly did not complete; I didn't get any confirmation or ticket number or anything from BA. I assume that the authorization will just expire quietly on its own if I don't do anything, right? And if not, I guess it's refundable, but how do I refund a ticket I never got?