Absurd gift card 72 hour waiting period
 

Why, in anno domini 2020, does it take 72 hours for online gift card to activate?? Ridiculous.

I've always assumed it was a fraud prevention matter (though it is annoying).

You can always go buy from the store and I think those are activated immediately

If you buy from the mobile site, it's only a 24 hour waiting period. I couldn't tell you why the fraud prevention measures are different between mobile and desktop.

You can also buy physical gift cards in many retail locations (Target, etc.) which are activated immediately.

I had thought that too, but I guess maybe I never tried to use one literally right away because my most recent experience a few weeks ago I had to wait overnight (possibly it activated while I was asleep, idunno)

I purchased a gift card this past weekend from the online (desktop) site and was able to use it on a ticket immediately. The 72-hour language was there, but I was able to balance check it and go through the redemption process within a few minutes. I was logged into my account at the time so maybe the security measures didn't flag it?

No, they're not. At least in my experience.

They say on them you have to wait up to 24 hours. With me, it's always just meant overnight. So, buy at 8PM, use the next morning.

Is there an angle to purchasing gift cards then immediately using to purchase flights that I’m not aware of?

Why do you think is this ridiculous?
Seems well documented and fairly reasonable to prevent fraud.


Do you intend to state your case, or are you just here to remind everyone what year it is?

Hmm. I bought one last week at Target and used it an hour later when I got home.

It can happen. But the ones I've bought all say to wait 24 hours, and I've never been able to use any of them immediately after purchase.

Yes. Book immediately, fly next day (on a different name), and poof. Unrecoverable.

It can be used to utilize the Amex Plat airline credit. Here's a thread that goes into detail. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ly-2020-a.html

There is also the business concept of "under promise, over deliver"
My company says 3 days to email digital images, but we usually get them out in 30 seconds to 3 hours depending on internet connectivity.

So saying 72 hours is an honest business safeguard.

This policy is antiquated for sure. Had I known this before purchasing from desktop I would have bought from retail store. I will probably get screwed with fare increases in the 72 hours I have to wait.