Buying AirAsia tickets with Amex
 

I did a forum search but couldn't find anything. Last year I was able to buy AirAsia tickets for my holiday with Amex by changing currency to MYR, but it doesn't seem to work any more. In the app I get "Invalid merchant" error prompt and on website "We don't support that type of card" no matter which currency I try.
Does anyone know a workaround for this or is it hopeless? Their customer service is useless, " We suggest you don't use app to buy tickets, instead do it in internet using compatible browser." Compatible to what??

hm... did you use mobile app for booking? Or using desktop pc/laptop for booking?

I never use their mobile app for any flight booking since I always found that it kind of buggy... what the customer service means is try to use desktop pc or laptop to book the flight ticket

I tried both the app and website with different browser and different currencies, Amex is still not accepted. Expedia and such come up with higher price and not sure I can pre-book seats or luggage that way.
Also tried UK Amex Travel, according to them they can't ticket if airline doesn't accept Amex as payment method. I guess Cebu Pacific it is then ;)

I believe is the system issue between AirAsia payment system and Amex in Malaysia. I have a lots of similar experience when making payment for online vendor, such as Japan based vendor and US amazon where they have no issue of accepting foreign credit (which has been successful in past years), but I have been unable to make any payment using all foreign credit card since past few years.

But yes maybe you should give Cebu Pacific a try. Have seen some not bad review on it too

My bad for not being thoural enough. Digging deeper into their FAQ section turns out that Amex is not accepted at all for Z2 (Philippines AirAsia) tickets.

You may try buying via Trip.com or Traveloka.

Sometimes I can't book with my Amex card on their website but it seems to always work via the app somehow

It seems AirAsia has problems with many Visa cards from other countries too.
did anyone book an AirAsia flight using another booking site like trip.com etc? I am having issues too but with a visa card?

I’ve used a Visa card this week for an Air Asia Indonesia ticket.

Yes it seems that they have a problem with visa with some banks of some countries. I asked the bank too and it's something they need to sort out. I eventually used Expedia.

Banks (and I assume AMEX) will sometimes block airlines and/or countries of ticket issue as a fraud prevention measure. Calling (in advance?) will normally solve the problem....

Just wandering
Fred

I did and the bank says there was no request from the airline website at all. It seems it's a complicated matter.