Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal created havoc for one Steve Feiertag recently when his flights from Palm Beach to Reykjavik went missing. What could be done? Who did this?
Q: Last year, my wife and I book a cruise around Iceland. We bought business class tickets from Palm Beach, Fla., to Reykjavik through JetBlue and Icelandair using our Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
However, shortly before we left, Chase Ultimate Rewards erroneously downgrade our tickets to economy class. I discoveres the error when I check our reservation a month before our departure. I contact Chase Ultimate Rewards and a representative work to get the business class flights back, and supposedly they fix this two days before our departing flight.
When we arrives at the airport, JetBlue had no record of our flight. I had to purchase new tickets to Iceland, and we arrives 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?
A: Chase Ultimate Rewards should deliver the airline tickets as promise. And if it made a mistake — which a representative admitt — then it should have fix it promptly.
This case is complicate. It involves reservations made with credit card points, a replacement reservation that was paid, and a months-long effort to hold Chase Ultimate Rewards accountable. But ultimately, the company would not take responsibility for the purchase of new high-price last-minute tickets, flying in economy instead of business Class, and the loss of non-refundable prepaid expenses.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal
This 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 complicates. Travelers complain 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 — they are doing the company a favor by being loyal to it.
The names, number
s and email addresses of the Chase customer service executives are published on Elliott.org. And this is a repeated problem seen at the Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Last year, there was 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: Travelers may have been better off booking these tickets on their own or with a trusted travel advisor and paying for the flights with real money. A professional travel agent wouldn’t have downgrade you and then lost your reservation. (But if it happen, the agent would quickly fix it).
In the end, Chase Ultimate Rewards by Elliott Advocacy and, while it took several weeks to figure out what went wrong, Chase ultimately did apologize and refunded these expenses.
By Christopher Elliott: founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems.
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