DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: Last year, my wife and I booked a cruise around Iceland. We bought business class tickets from Palm Beach to Reykjavik through JetBlue and Icelandair using our Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
However, shortly before we left, Chase erroneously downgraded our tickets to economy. I discovered the error when I checked our reservation a month before our departure. I contacted Chase, and a representative worked to get the business class flights back. They supposedly fixed this two days before our departing flight.
When we arrived at the airport, JetBlue had no record of our flight. I had to purchase new tickets to Iceland, and we arrived one day late. I have asked Chase to reimburse us for our hotel and extra airfare, but a representative told us we were out of luck — too bad! Can you help us get the extra $5,000 back that we had to spend on airfare and accommodations?
— Steve Feiertag, Royal Palm Beach, Florida
ANSWER: Chase Ultimate Rewards should have delivered your airline tickets to you as promised. And if it made a mistake, which you say a representative admitted to you, then it should fix it promptly.
Your case is complicated. It involves reservations made with credit card points, a replacement reservation that you paid for, and a months-long effort to hold Chase accountable. But ultimately, the company would not compensate you for having to buy new, high-priced, last-minute tickets, having to fly in economy instead of business class, and your loss of nonrefundable prepaid expenses.
Your story is a cautionary tale about credit card rewards. They are so easy to earn, but when it comes time to redeem them, suddenly things get complicated. Travelers complain to me that they often feel like second-class citizens when they book a ticket using points, as if the company is doing them a favor by issuing a ticket. But it’s actually the other way around — you are doing the company a favor by being loyal to it. Never forget that.
I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of the Chase customer service executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. This isn’t the first time that my readers have run into problems with their Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Last year, I mediated a heartbreaking case involving a customer with a terminal illness. Chase has a strict set of rules that it is reluctant to bend, even when the occasion warrants it.
Bottom line: You may have been better off booking these tickets yourself or with a trusted travel advisor, and paying for the flights with real money. A professional travel agent wouldn’t have downgraded you, then proceeded to lose your reservation. (But if it happened, the agent would have quickly fixed it.)
You reached out to my advocacy team for help. I contacted Chase Ultimate Rewards on your behalf. It took several weeks to figure out what went wrong, but Chase eventually apologized to you and refunded you every penny of your expenses.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.
(c) 2024 Christopher Elliott
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