Originally Posted by anaugle

I had a similar experience, although it ended being quite a bit more embarrassing than just a declined charge.
(...) They called Amex which, of course, had no record of any attempt to make the charge. (...)
I wrote letters to Amex and the airline. I got a crummy corporate apology letter from Amex ("...we're sorry that happened to you...but it's not our fault..."). The airline gave me a f/c ticket home the next day, $500 in flight credit, and 100,000 ff miles. I guess a platinum frequent flier is worth more to a bankrupt airline, than a $100K/year Amex cardmember is to American Express.