I have booked several tickets for myself and my girlfriend on several airlines and sectors. This once, we booked her on Jetstar (how I wish I knew of this site before booking it!). At some point we learned that the credit card used to book the ticket (mine, and I live in Singapore) needs to be verified at the point of her checking in (in Manila). In such cases, its usual for an airline to ask for a copy of the card / the holder's identity card / an authorization letter, etc. and we've done this on multiple occasions. But NO -- Jetstar needs me to go to the check in counter at the Singapore airport to have my card validated, failing which she will not be allowed to check in and fly. Now I can understand if they asked me to go to the nearest Jetstar booking office / agent and have the card verified so they can enter it onto the reservation the same way an agent books tickets.. but nope! Had to go alll the way to the airport.
Having no choice, I went to the airport - queued up, as 4 staff personnel attended to a query / issue of One group of 3 people, awaiting my turn. Told the girl I needed to have my card validated, and she asked me for her Booking reference number. And it was done in two seconds.
Can SOMEONE tell me WHAT it is that they validated? They didn't ask me my name, or for any identification. Simply swiped the card, and it was done. How do they know who I am? How is this any different from her showing a copy of that same card?
This apparently meaningless 2 second task cost me an hour and a half and 50 dollars, for a ticket we bought for 200 dollars as it was the cheapest option. Not the cheapest anymore, is it!?
Thanks, Jetstar, for your stupidity and the inconvenience caused!
Comments
Just a while ago, I received
Just a while ago, I received an email from Jetstar regarding credit card verification which requires the card owner to be physically present at the check in counter in order for the flight to be confirmed MNL-SNG-MNL. So I called their customer service hotline to verify this. All she said was it's their policy and it only applies to Singapore flights ONLY. And if the owner can't physically present the card at the counter, I should pay cash for the ticket price and they will refund the payment made from by the card holder after 15 days. So I asked the agent why it won't suffice if I have presented an authorisation letter and copy of valid ID signed by the card holder (which were the case for other airlines)... Also, the bank sends a confirmation message to the card holder upon purchase of any goods with a significant amount or such. Therefore, if the bank doesn't get any complaints from the card holder, it shouldn't be considered "fraudulent" since the card owner has been made aware of it. And the agent's response was just "I know sir it's a hassle for you, but it's company policy".
How can you argue with such reasoning? No LOGIC at all! Thank you for the inconvenience and crappy service Jetstar!
Hi Ankur, you are lucky to be
Hi Ankur, you are lucky to be living in Singapore and had to go to Singapore Airport. I live in Darwin and since the flight that I bought for my parents are coming from manila to darwin via Singapore, the credit card needs to be verified in Singapore or Manila! I booked a flight in September 2013 for my parents, a direct flight from Manila to Darwin (return). On December 2013, I got an email from jetstar that they are not going to have direct flights Manila-Darwin starting March and since my parents' flight is in May, they asked me if I want to cancel it or just have them go here via singapore. So I chose the via singapore schedule and was not aware of that physical credit card verification until I read my parents' itinerary. I called Jetstar and they said go to Darwin Airport to verify the credit card at the jetstar counter, which I did in Feb 13. I called customer service again last night (March 21) and they said that nothing has been noted in the system that my credit card has been verified and UNFORTUNATELY, they can only verify credit cards in NAIA and Singapore airport because Jetstar Australia doesnt have that policy so it can't be done in Darwin counter airport. They told me if its not possible to present the card in NAIA or singapore, then my parents need to pay again for their flight using their credit card (which they don't have) or pay cash. How inconvenient... And to think that not everyone has instant cash in their pockets whenever they need one. I always pay for my family's tickets to visit me in Australia so next time, I think I will switch to PAL because I heard they accept authorisation letter from credit card owner.
Same thing happened with my
Same thing happened with my daughter whom I booked from Manila to Singapore. I had to argue with the customer service officer on the phone for an hour and offered as much logic as I can to show how ridiculous this policy is, but all to to no avail.
This site has at least 2k followers. So I guess Jetshit doesn't mind losing all these customers and their relatives and friends.
So here's a logical response to you Jetshit - FUCK YOU!!!
Earlier is the flight
Earlier is the flight schedule of my Mom going here to Perth Australia, we chose to book jetstar as its the cheapest to an urgent flight. We sent all the documents needed for her to present at the airport including the copy of card and ID of my husband. On the check in counter she was asked to pay in cash for the ticket if my husband will not be physically appear to verify the payment. WHAT THE HECK!!! My husband is here in Australia and he needs to go to PH or SG just to verify??? Stupid policy!!!! It doesnt making sense at all that the owner of the card will go through miles just to verify!! Come to think of it, how can we use the card if we're not authorize to do so?! We chose to booked online because its convenient for us. But what you did cause us too much stress and incovenience at all! We almost lose the flight for that stupid policy!!!! And because of that, you pushed another customer away! We'll not book to your airlines ever again!!! If you dont change that policy you'll lost all your customers
Is this policy still applies?
Is this policy still applies?
Because I have a travel agency and I usually book customers using my credit card.
I am afraid they'll require me to physically be there just to verify.
Please comment and help.