Recently, a friend of mine told me about a credit card experience that I thought was worth sharing. This particular friend is pretty smart about how he uses his cards and always seems to get the most out of them. One of the cards that he carries is a CitiBusiness AAdvantage card. His business requires a decent amount of travel, so having a credit card that rewards him in the form of airline miles seemed like a smart choice for him.
The upgrade required redemption of 80,000 frequent flyer miles. Upon confirming that the upgrades were available, the customer service rep informed him of the “expedite fee” accompanying the upgrade. The CitiBusiness Aadvantage Rewards program requires payment of expedite fees if upgrades are not made at least 21 days before the flight’s departure.
Now, I can’t say for sure whether or not this “expedite” fee is mentioned in the fine print of his Citi Aadvantage card but the airline should have been more upfront about this fee prior to confirming his upgrade. A simple courtesy reminder along the lines of, “We would be happy to upgrade your flight. I need to remind you that you will be charged an expedite fee because you upgraded with less than 21 days before your departure date.”
Obviously, customers need to make an effort to understand the terms of their credit card agreements. At the same time, with all of the legalese written into the fine print on these agreements, it’s nearly impossible to stay abreast of all the stipulations on the card. It would be easy to miss something like an “expedite” fee, even if it was outlined explicitly in the card agreement. At a minimum, the card issuer should extend the courtesy of a friendly reminder about the fee upon the customer’s inquiry and well before the transaction is completed.
I remember several months ago when I called my Bank of America card about using a credit card check with a low APR. I was very impressed when the representative reminded me of the fee associated with writing the check. Although I was aware of this fact and had already decided that the fee I’d have to pay was worth the net benefit that I’d receive, it was comforting that he reminded me before I executed the transaction, unlike my friend’s experience with the American Airlines card.
Why couldn’t American Airlines extend the same courtesy to my friend?
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