Delta and AmEx - Time to vent...
Mar 7, 2022, 2:09 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 46
Delta and AmEx - Time to vent...
Apologies in advance for this venting message, but hopefully it can serve as a cautionary tale to others:
This weekend, I booked a vacation for my family and I to Europe. For the four of us, the price was just above $3K. When I went to check out, I was offered an "opportunity" to open and use the AmEx Gold Skymiles credit card. The offer was:
- $400 statement credit, and
- 50,000 Skymiles
Thinking that saving over 10% was a good thing, I accepted the offer and was approved for the card instantly. AmEx even kindly offered to securely transfer the new card information back to Delta.
When I went to finalize the transaction, Delta kept telling me to try again. I confirmed that the information was correct, the credit limit was sufficient, but the system gave me an error message several times, and never completed the transaction. I decided to wait for a bit, and then try again.
In the meantime, I went to the AmEx web site, and added my new Delta card to my AmEx account. Sure enough, it showed that there was currently a pending charge of $3K (the charge was exactly the same as the ticket price). Great, I thought, it's been paid. However, I had no confirmation from Delta, and could find no record of the ticket in my Delta account.
This then began a cycle of speaking with both Delta and AmEx for over 3 hours on the phone on Saturday, and another hour and a half today. At the end of all this time, I've been left with the following:
1) AmEx can't remove a pending charge while it's still pending. They suggested Delta call the AmEx merchant authorization line to clear this up. They also were not able to increase the credit limit (in case I wanted to try the card again), as it was a new card.
2) Delta has no record anywhere of a payment from AmEx. They will not call AmEx, as they don't make such phone calls. They only get authorizations electronically.
3) Delta did extend the hold on my ticket from Saturday until today, but could not extend it any longer. They also told me that the Delta agent shouldn't have extended it at all, as this is a codeshare flight.
So, today I ended up cancelling the reservation, as I still want to use the AmEx card and get the credit I was offered. I need to wait for the AmEx pending payment to drop off, hoping that the fare does not increase in the meantime. Then I can try the AmEx card again.
Ironically, I was searching online, and see that at least one other person has had the almost identical experience.
Has anyone else run into the Delta/AmEx limbo? If so, how did it end? I realize that these two billion dollar companies could care less about the problems of one passenger (or two), but I'd love for them to hear about this somehow.
Thanks for letting me vent!!
This weekend, I booked a vacation for my family and I to Europe. For the four of us, the price was just above $3K. When I went to check out, I was offered an "opportunity" to open and use the AmEx Gold Skymiles credit card. The offer was:
- $400 statement credit, and
- 50,000 Skymiles
Thinking that saving over 10% was a good thing, I accepted the offer and was approved for the card instantly. AmEx even kindly offered to securely transfer the new card information back to Delta.
When I went to finalize the transaction, Delta kept telling me to try again. I confirmed that the information was correct, the credit limit was sufficient, but the system gave me an error message several times, and never completed the transaction. I decided to wait for a bit, and then try again.
In the meantime, I went to the AmEx web site, and added my new Delta card to my AmEx account. Sure enough, it showed that there was currently a pending charge of $3K (the charge was exactly the same as the ticket price). Great, I thought, it's been paid. However, I had no confirmation from Delta, and could find no record of the ticket in my Delta account.
This then began a cycle of speaking with both Delta and AmEx for over 3 hours on the phone on Saturday, and another hour and a half today. At the end of all this time, I've been left with the following:
1) AmEx can't remove a pending charge while it's still pending. They suggested Delta call the AmEx merchant authorization line to clear this up. They also were not able to increase the credit limit (in case I wanted to try the card again), as it was a new card.
2) Delta has no record anywhere of a payment from AmEx. They will not call AmEx, as they don't make such phone calls. They only get authorizations electronically.
3) Delta did extend the hold on my ticket from Saturday until today, but could not extend it any longer. They also told me that the Delta agent shouldn't have extended it at all, as this is a codeshare flight.
So, today I ended up cancelling the reservation, as I still want to use the AmEx card and get the credit I was offered. I need to wait for the AmEx pending payment to drop off, hoping that the fare does not increase in the meantime. Then I can try the AmEx card again.
Ironically, I was searching online, and see that at least one other person has had the almost identical experience.
Has anyone else run into the Delta/AmEx limbo? If so, how did it end? I realize that these two billion dollar companies could care less about the problems of one passenger (or two), but I'd love for them to hear about this somehow.
Thanks for letting me vent!!
