Amex Travel (USA) inaccurate or incomplete ticketing reports [Consolidated]
Aug 17, 2018, 12:41 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 50
Amex Travel (USA) inaccurate or incomplete ticketing reports [Consolidated]
I have had the most horrible experience with Amex travel for completely messing up my booking, charging me for it and then not paying jetblue, who cancelled my flights without notice and on top, I was double charged for a hotel. I am an immigration attorney, and it was imperative that I make my flight as my client had an important hearing the next day. I have spent over 15 hrs with amex customer service to just speak to a supervisor, which only happened once. I have all the call logs.
I never complain, but this incident has really pissed me off. I will give basic details, please help and let me know how to proceed so that Amex, who I love, never puts another customer through this again.
7/30- I booked an online pkg with hotel and airfare from jfk- buf, flying 7/31 and returning 8/1, one night stay at the Curtiss Hotel, for $709.
The pkg had an 8am flight outbound which should had been for a 230pm flight. I called amex, the agent advised me to allow him to cancel my entire initial booking, as it was within the courtesy cancellation window, and rebook a whole new pkg, as I had just made the booking. he proceeded to cancel the pkg, said the hotel was contacted and that they would cancel the hotel portion of it on 7/31 in the morning when the manager was around, and for me to call the next day. I then booked the same exact pkg but with a 230pm flight for the same amount.
7/31- I called amex at 8am, was on the phone for about 45 mins, and I told them to call the Curtiss hotel to ensure that they cancelled the double booking. The front desk said the manager would cancel but was not around, and to call in about 2 hrs.
I call amex travel at 10:30 am, spend another hour on the phone with amex, the manager of the hotel was not in yet, and I was told not to worry, as the manager would cancel one of the bookings.
My flight was leaving in 4 hrs, and I attempted to "check-in" on my jetblue app and I was unable to.
I call amex travel, on the phone for an 75 mins, and the agent tells me, that there should be no problem, as I have been charged for the flight, that there is a proper "trip id" and not to worry and just go to the airport, I asked to speak to a supervisor, spent another 30 mins on hold with silence till the phone was cut off.
It's about noon, I am packed and heading to the airport, and call amex travel again, I immediately tell the agent that I need to speak with a supervisor, she says no, that she is able to handle my issue. 50 mins into the call, she tells me that amex charged my card for the ticket, but jetblue cancelled it at midnight bc amex did not send the funds for the ticket to jetblue ...?!?! how does amex not send jetblue money? I was not notified by jetblue nor amex of this at all.
so now its about 1, and she tells me to hold and to speak to a supervisor, on hold in silence for another 30 mins while im waiting at jfk to fly out, and they tell me that theyre unable to book a flight for me, as the window is too short and can get me on a 630 pm flight, which I would have to book myself on jetblue, which I did, for $625.
So now, I am unable to see my client as my flight will land past 9pm. I get to the Curtiss Hotel in Buffalo, and when checking-in, the front desk was aware of my double booking, and we spoke, and they told me, not to worry, that I would only be charged for one booking, and that the manager would take care of it in the morning.
8/1- I call amex again in the morning, on the phone for 90 mins, was unable to speak to a supervisor bc the hold times are just ridiculous. before checking out the hotel, I ask to speak to the manager, just to confirm that I would only be charged for one room, "Lauren" the manager comes from the back with a snarky attitude, in a snide manner tells me, "no refunds, you will have to pay for both rooms," I ask for her card and she gives me her "boss'" card "Connor Hawkins" and just walks away. this is at a "five star" hotel.
I return from court, and ask to speak with "Connor" and the front desk receptionist says that he does not want to speak with me, and goes quiet.
I call amex travel again, speak to an agent, as always they tell me, it will be a 3 mins hold to speak to supervisor, 120 mins on the phone, she tells me that she lost contact with the supervisor and that I would have to hold, or she would call me back when she got in touch with the supervisor. she never returned the call.
Now after all this, and emails back & forth with a supervisor, who once listening to the phone call, admitted that it was amex's mistake, and that they would refund me $100 and 10k points, which i said was inadequate, and now she says they will refund me for the extra room the hotel was not suppose to charge me for.
My question is, the refund of the hotel does not resolve amex putting me through hell for something so simple. how should I proceed, thanks a lot!
I never complain, but this incident has really pissed me off. I will give basic details, please help and let me know how to proceed so that Amex, who I love, never puts another customer through this again.
7/30- I booked an online pkg with hotel and airfare from jfk- buf, flying 7/31 and returning 8/1, one night stay at the Curtiss Hotel, for $709.
The pkg had an 8am flight outbound which should had been for a 230pm flight. I called amex, the agent advised me to allow him to cancel my entire initial booking, as it was within the courtesy cancellation window, and rebook a whole new pkg, as I had just made the booking. he proceeded to cancel the pkg, said the hotel was contacted and that they would cancel the hotel portion of it on 7/31 in the morning when the manager was around, and for me to call the next day. I then booked the same exact pkg but with a 230pm flight for the same amount.
7/31- I called amex at 8am, was on the phone for about 45 mins, and I told them to call the Curtiss hotel to ensure that they cancelled the double booking. The front desk said the manager would cancel but was not around, and to call in about 2 hrs.
I call amex travel at 10:30 am, spend another hour on the phone with amex, the manager of the hotel was not in yet, and I was told not to worry, as the manager would cancel one of the bookings.
My flight was leaving in 4 hrs, and I attempted to "check-in" on my jetblue app and I was unable to.
I call amex travel, on the phone for an 75 mins, and the agent tells me, that there should be no problem, as I have been charged for the flight, that there is a proper "trip id" and not to worry and just go to the airport, I asked to speak to a supervisor, spent another 30 mins on hold with silence till the phone was cut off.
It's about noon, I am packed and heading to the airport, and call amex travel again, I immediately tell the agent that I need to speak with a supervisor, she says no, that she is able to handle my issue. 50 mins into the call, she tells me that amex charged my card for the ticket, but jetblue cancelled it at midnight bc amex did not send the funds for the ticket to jetblue ...?!?! how does amex not send jetblue money? I was not notified by jetblue nor amex of this at all.
so now its about 1, and she tells me to hold and to speak to a supervisor, on hold in silence for another 30 mins while im waiting at jfk to fly out, and they tell me that theyre unable to book a flight for me, as the window is too short and can get me on a 630 pm flight, which I would have to book myself on jetblue, which I did, for $625.
So now, I am unable to see my client as my flight will land past 9pm. I get to the Curtiss Hotel in Buffalo, and when checking-in, the front desk was aware of my double booking, and we spoke, and they told me, not to worry, that I would only be charged for one booking, and that the manager would take care of it in the morning.
8/1- I call amex again in the morning, on the phone for 90 mins, was unable to speak to a supervisor bc the hold times are just ridiculous. before checking out the hotel, I ask to speak to the manager, just to confirm that I would only be charged for one room, "Lauren" the manager comes from the back with a snarky attitude, in a snide manner tells me, "no refunds, you will have to pay for both rooms," I ask for her card and she gives me her "boss'" card "Connor Hawkins" and just walks away. this is at a "five star" hotel.
I return from court, and ask to speak with "Connor" and the front desk receptionist says that he does not want to speak with me, and goes quiet.
I call amex travel again, speak to an agent, as always they tell me, it will be a 3 mins hold to speak to supervisor, 120 mins on the phone, she tells me that she lost contact with the supervisor and that I would have to hold, or she would call me back when she got in touch with the supervisor. she never returned the call.
Now after all this, and emails back & forth with a supervisor, who once listening to the phone call, admitted that it was amex's mistake, and that they would refund me $100 and 10k points, which i said was inadequate, and now she says they will refund me for the extra room the hotel was not suppose to charge me for.
My question is, the refund of the hotel does not resolve amex putting me through hell for something so simple. how should I proceed, thanks a lot!
Aug 17, 2018, 12:51 pm
#2
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
For information, Amex Travel (USA) is not operated by American Express. It is outsourced to Orbitz which is owned by Expedia. At one level this does not matter because American Express is responsible for choosing Orbitz, but it may prove helpful when trying to understand claims such as "...did not send the funds for the ticket to jetblue...", because that may be something the travel agency failed to do rather than the credit card company.
On your statement (or online) does the airline ticket purchase appear as a JetBlue transaction, or were you charged by the travel agency?
Disputing a duplicate charge from a hotel is routine.
On your statement (or online) does the airline ticket purchase appear as a JetBlue transaction, or were you charged by the travel agency?
Disputing a duplicate charge from a hotel is routine.
Last edited by mia; Aug 17, 2018 at 1:28 pm
Aug 17, 2018, 1:30 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 50
I didnt know that amex went through orbitz; but no, the transaction for the airfare and hotel was booked together but were charged separately as "amex travel." Yes, i am disputing the hotel charge. I am just wondering if I should ask for more compensation, and just paying for the double booking i shouldnt have been charged for, doesnt rectify them messing up my entire trip. thanks a lot!
Aug 17, 2018, 1:38 pm
#4
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New York City
Programs: AA,BNV,HIL
Posts: 879
Hard to get anything back for your time and misery - but you can dispute whatever charges were not consumed. Otherwise you confirm what many of us say: "Always book direct when on a biz trip". Time and easy change to itinerary is infinitely more valuable than the dollar saved on a discount.
Aug 21, 2018, 9:07 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 235
Thanks for this cautionary tale. American Express has been known for generations as being a premier travel service (among other things), so it's unfortunate that they've given their name to a company that didn't get the details right for OP. Even their site still touts their personalized service and 24/7 peace of mind. The ability to have what they call their "travel insiders" handle details with ease is what agencies must do to compete with direct booking.
Aug 21, 2018, 10:17 pm
#6
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
Programs: Marriott Ambassador; AA EXP 3MM; AS MVP, Hilton Gold, CH-47/UH-60/C-23/C-130 VET
Posts: 5,234
I'd consider making a TripAdvisor post regarding the hotel. Of course, keep it simple ... duplicate reservation, called hotel, and they charged you anyway.
Oct 28, 2019, 1:13 pm
#7
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 998
Issue with Amex Travel booking, anything they’ll do for me?
Booked a stay at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel in Anaheim with my platinum card and AmexTravel so I could earn the 5x points. I booked this stay in late July 2019 and it was for one night, Oct 26th check in and Oct 27th check out. My “your trip summary” on AmexTravel showed the correct dates as well as my email. I did not adjust this booking at all.
When I got to the front desk with my friend they couldn’t find my reservation. The Disney hotel called their reservation department and tried looking for it and couldn’t find it. Amex doesn’t provide ANY Disney confirmation numbers, the Trip ID and the confirmation number in the AmexTravel email are only traceable on the Amex side of things. The Disney cast member that was trying to check me in tried to call a couple numbers (I believe one was a direct Amex number and the other maybe a travel portal number?) and neither answered. Because of this he had to have me hang around as he called the general AmexTravel phone number to speak with a low level Amex rep. Back and forth of me validating my identity with different reps and the Disney cast member trying to explain the problem we were having we finally got to a manager that was able to find the reservation and figure out what happened (and re-send the reservation to the hotel, which could take 10 or 15 minutes we were told). From start to finish I was at the Disney front desk for at least 30 minutes but probably closer to 45 minutes, all while I had a lunch reservation that was being missed. Not only did this interfere with my lunch plans, it made me feel a little embarrassed in front of my friend that maybe I hadn’t booked it right or accidentally cancelled or something. FINALLY it turns out that AmexTravel had booked the stay for SEPTEMBER and not October, even though logging into the AmexTravel site showed October and my email showed October. The Disney hotel waived my parking fee for me when it was 100% NOT their fault, but I would like to let AmexTravel know how poorly this check in went and that they must have issues in their system. I don’t care if a 3rd party handles Amex’s travel bookings, if Amex forces platinum card holders to use their portal that is 100% branded Amex, I feel it’s THEIR responsibility to own up when issues happen.
Is there an email I can use to alert Amex to this issue I had and am I right to ask for anything for the extended check in hassle? If so, what? MR points? How many? Every minute I was at the front desk was messing up my lunch reservation and keeping me from being in the Disneyland park during my very tightly packed vacation.
Also, as inside knowledge for us here, apparently AmexTravel reservations are HAND BOOKED?! How else could a reservation date get changed without updated the “your trip summary” or the confirmation email? This has me very worried for the future because when I previously used AmexTravel to book a Disneyland hotel Amex was NOT able to get me an actual Disney Hotel confirmation number and the Disneyland Hotel reps could NOT look up any reservation using the Amex data. So last year I wasn’t 30 minutes on two different calls just doubling checking the reservation just to find out that it can’t be verified, which is why I skipped trying to do that this year…
When I got to the front desk with my friend they couldn’t find my reservation. The Disney hotel called their reservation department and tried looking for it and couldn’t find it. Amex doesn’t provide ANY Disney confirmation numbers, the Trip ID and the confirmation number in the AmexTravel email are only traceable on the Amex side of things. The Disney cast member that was trying to check me in tried to call a couple numbers (I believe one was a direct Amex number and the other maybe a travel portal number?) and neither answered. Because of this he had to have me hang around as he called the general AmexTravel phone number to speak with a low level Amex rep. Back and forth of me validating my identity with different reps and the Disney cast member trying to explain the problem we were having we finally got to a manager that was able to find the reservation and figure out what happened (and re-send the reservation to the hotel, which could take 10 or 15 minutes we were told). From start to finish I was at the Disney front desk for at least 30 minutes but probably closer to 45 minutes, all while I had a lunch reservation that was being missed. Not only did this interfere with my lunch plans, it made me feel a little embarrassed in front of my friend that maybe I hadn’t booked it right or accidentally cancelled or something. FINALLY it turns out that AmexTravel had booked the stay for SEPTEMBER and not October, even though logging into the AmexTravel site showed October and my email showed October. The Disney hotel waived my parking fee for me when it was 100% NOT their fault, but I would like to let AmexTravel know how poorly this check in went and that they must have issues in their system. I don’t care if a 3rd party handles Amex’s travel bookings, if Amex forces platinum card holders to use their portal that is 100% branded Amex, I feel it’s THEIR responsibility to own up when issues happen.
Is there an email I can use to alert Amex to this issue I had and am I right to ask for anything for the extended check in hassle? If so, what? MR points? How many? Every minute I was at the front desk was messing up my lunch reservation and keeping me from being in the Disneyland park during my very tightly packed vacation.
Also, as inside knowledge for us here, apparently AmexTravel reservations are HAND BOOKED?! How else could a reservation date get changed without updated the “your trip summary” or the confirmation email? This has me very worried for the future because when I previously used AmexTravel to book a Disneyland hotel Amex was NOT able to get me an actual Disney Hotel confirmation number and the Disneyland Hotel reps could NOT look up any reservation using the Amex data. So last year I wasn’t 30 minutes on two different calls just doubling checking the reservation just to find out that it can’t be verified, which is why I skipped trying to do that this year…
Oct 28, 2019, 1:46 pm
#8
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Georgia
Programs: DL DM/2MM
Posts: 1,036
I've had a terrible experience with AmEx travel booking for the 5x MR benefit as well. Too much detail to go into (it had to do with them not honoring their best price guarantee), but they definitely don't have their act together and I am not treated nearly as well as AmEx's regular CS reps.
Oct 28, 2019, 2:14 pm
#9
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Oct 28, 2019, 2:21 pm
#10
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 998
I didn't think the hotel did any manual booking. The front desk didn't seem to think so either, that once a travel partner booked a room the stuff was sent over automatically into the Disney Hotel reservation system... I would think if Disney entered it into their system manually they would be able to look up my reservation then with the confirmation code (why wouldn't you cross reference those?)
Oct 28, 2019, 2:33 pm
#11
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
I think you need to ask Amex Travel (Orbitz) before reaching a conclusion. Everything you have in writing is correct. Just tell them that when you arrived at the hotel the property could not locate the booking, but discovered it had been entered for the wrong month, and you would like to know how this happened. The other details are immaterial.
Oct 28, 2019, 2:56 pm
#12
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 998
I think you need to ask Amex Travel (Orbitz) before reaching a conclusion. Everything you have in writing is correct. Just tell them that when you arrived at the hotel the property could not locate the booking, but discovered it had been entered for the wrong month, and you would like to know how this happened. The other details are immaterial.
Oct 28, 2019, 4:19 pm
#13
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: Avis President's Club, Global Entry, Hilton/Marriott Gold. No more DL/AA status.
Posts: 4,422
I appreciate you sharing the story; glad it was resolved!!! You might get some goodwill gesture but I don't think you're owed anything for time lost. I had a different issue with an Amextravel prepaid booking that has put me off using the website despite 5x points ('d rather 3% cash back with my Costco Citi now). I had cancelled a stay well within the cancellation window, and Amextravel never refunded me. Both Amextravel and the hotel confirmed the reservation was cancelled. In the end I called the regular Amex customer service who had me file a chargeback. That really annoyed me because I feel like those should only be used in severe situations.
Oct 28, 2019, 5:15 pm
#14
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 998
I appreciate you sharing the story; glad it was resolved!!! You might get some goodwill gesture but I don't think you're owed anything for time lost. I had a different issue with an Amextravel prepaid booking that has put me off using the website despite 5x points ('d rather 3% cash back with my Costco Citi now). I had cancelled a stay well within the cancellation window, and Amextravel never refunded me. Both Amextravel and the hotel confirmed the reservation was cancelled. In the end I called the regular Amex customer service who had me file a chargeback. That really annoyed me because I feel like those should only be used in severe situations.
I know everyone like's to think their time is the most important in the world, but 30 to 45 minutes standing at the front desk does feel like forever, especially when you could be spending that time in the theme park. Thankfully I didn't have little kids that would have been dying inside.
I can't see why they can't provide a confirmation number from the hotel when they are making a reservation as my proxy, especially if they force you to book that way to earn rewards.
Oct 28, 2019, 5:49 pm
#15
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Just send the short email which omits all the irrelevant detail and focuses on the confirmation you held. Not worth speculating about what Amex might do, if anything, as it does not owe you anything so anything it does is a customer service gesture.