Could BoA clawback welcome bonus due to return?
 

Hi guys,


A few months ago my friend got a Bank of America / Royal Caribbean CC. Welcome bonus was 17,500 points after 1K spend. She met the spend, got the points and redeemed it for onboard credit for a cruise in two weeks. The card has been used after that infrequently and for small $$ transactions, fully paid every month.


Now she has to return one of the main purchases that helped her make the initial spend. The concern is what would happen to the bonus points that she received & redeemed? Can BoA contact Royal Caribbean and request that they take off the onboard credit?


Thanks!

I can't imagine BOA contacting RC over the onboard credit. They definitely will subtract the regular points the purchase earned, but what they do about the bonus sign up points I don't know. Can she purchase something else of comparable price? If not, I would call Bank of America before making the return.

Yes. The question is will BofA do that.

Usually as soon as everything sounds legit, issuers rarely touch you after whatever they gave you. However, if it looks like it was purposely done (like buying a refundable ticket to get the bonus and then cancel it), then issuers will take actions.

Most people try to "cover" the amount of refund with new purchases, and in those cases don't report clawback. We have fewer reports of what happens if people don't "cover" it. So if it's easy for you to do, make new charges at least as big as the refund that'll show up on the same (or earlier) statement, and it should all end up ok.