mia

It doesn't seem to make sense to forfeit a $215 ticket to preserve a $165 reimbursement. Which airline? Is the ticket refundable? If not, it may still be changeable for a fee, in which case the value would typically be held at the airline in the form of a voucher.

enoscabell

It's a non-refundable domestic Delta ticket that's not covered by any of the coronavirus waivers, and the change fee is $200. I'd rather not jump through hoops to collect a net $15 in credit and potentially deal with even more money out of pocket due to a clawback of the refund.

gengar

Yep, a representative told me today that they can't do anything to credits. They can manually issue credits for existing charges, but they can't undo or modify the existing credits.

Colin

if there's been a schedule change, cancel and request a refund. if not, check-in & monitor for a flight delay and then request a refund.

bryanb

If the meter says that I have $0 left in incidental credits, I will start charging my incidentals to another card so there will be nothing else to apply a retroactively rescinded credit. I have to trust that their systems are giving me accurate information on my benefits. Even if Amex is legally in the right to reverse a credit, doing so is not consumer friendly and reserved for customers who they’re absolutely sure are operating in bad faith and whom they don’t need to keep on as customers.

In any case, it seems that they are going after people who most obviously gamed the system. People who have a pattern of buying tickets, cancelling them for immediate refunds back onto their credit cards, and pocketing the airline credit without any evidence that they ever intended to use it. Do that several times, and you establish a pattern that defies statistical likelihood. Bam. It doesn’t mean they won’t go after less egregious cases in the future, but just don’t be that guy who is abusing the system so obviously that there can’t be any reasonable explanation for it.

danhouston

lol, if u r sharp, will quickly get it; no need to be wordy

troyhouse

so trying to get some clarity. I did the GC method in 2019, bought fully refundable tickets and got the credit. My flight is coming up shortly and was planning to cancel the ticket because of corona and I am not comfortable flying at this time.

it looks the credit will be clawed back? is that confirmed, can i still plead my case with amex, considering this was very valid reason for cancellation?

My ticket was for 257 and 176 was charged to card, Delta Rep said full 257 will go as credit back to card if I cancel the ticket. Does this still trigger claw back?

mia

I think not, because ticket purchases are explicitly excluded from reimbursement. Your "case" would be that American Express' system mistook your ticket purchase for a fee, and they should not fix their mistake?

Colin

the gift card amount will be refunded to an ecredit voucher and AMEX will be none the wiser

mia

...but the $176 will be refunded to the American Express card.

ijgordon

Exactly, IMO they should claw back the credit for being in violation of the program's terms in the first place, not because the original charge was refunded, although that's a valid reason as well.
:ducks:

mrkymark

I've always found it weird that sometimes I'll get an email saying "Here's more information about any merchant credits you received" if something was refunded or returned but sometimes I'll never get an email.

It makes me think that the way a merchant posts the credit matters to amex. Are people who are getting these claw back requests also recipients of amex emails that informed them of the credits in the past? Just wondering if that email trigger was key.

Again not sure why amex send info emails on some refunds/ credits but not others. Anyone have any insight? Or maybe know the gory details of merchant credit processing?

danhouston

or maybe clawbacks r not finished yet?

uclacolumbiaunc

Dumbass American Express....

all they have to do is to make air fare purchase (and any other airline purchases) eligible for the credit, then they would not have to waste their time clawing back charges, and customers are happy.

both citi and chase are doing this for their premium cards, why is American Express so stupidly stubborn?

Sloflyer032

has anyone had their 2019 credits reversed for ineligible airline purchases? All I see is people who got refunded (and a credit) for a purchase get their credit reversed which makes perfect sense to me