Consumer complaint received 2024-04-17 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Problem with rewards from credit card
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: AZ

Complaint narrative:
I opened an American Express Gold Card and received a welcome bonus of XXXX XXXX. I earned an additional XXXXXXXX XXXX for a total of XXXXXXXX XXXX The credit card came with no set spending limit. 

On XX/XX/2024 I made a reservation from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX via AMEX Travel Services. AMEX Confirmation number XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX number XXXX. I paid for the trip using approximately XXXX XXXX  and the points were deducted from my balance of XXXX. 

On XX/XX/2024 I booked a reservation to XXXX XXXX. Amex travel confirmation number XXXX XXXX XXXX confirmation XXXX I paid for the trip using approximately XXXXXXXX XXXX and the points were deducted from my balance of XXXX. 

On or about XX/XX/2024 I received a call and email from AMEX Travel letting me know that my reservations to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  were being cancelled because I did not have enough available credit on my credit card. I was transferred to the credit card department and was told that American Express reduced my spending limit to {$9300.00} which was the approximate balance owed on the card, leaving me with no available credit. I was told that my credit card was assigned a credit limit of {$9300.00} and no longer had a no pre-set spending limit. 

I was then transferred to membership services and told that reservations are charged to your card and then you get a credit when using your points, usually within 48 hours. The cost of each ticket was approximately {$500.00} each ( approx. {$1000.00} total ) for which I had no available credit to cover. The points for each ticket was credited back into my account leaving me with my original balance of XXXX. 

I feel American Express violated UDAAP laws by not advertising that reservations using points must first be charged to your credit card before the points are applied to offset the charge for the reservation. 

I was essentially blocked from using my points for the two reservations unless I made a payment of approximately {$1500.00} because when my spending limit was lowered to {$9300.00} my balance owed on the card was already greater than that amount. 

I feel I should have been given the opportunity to use my points without having the available credit on my credit card. There was never any advertisement when I signed up that said the Welcome Bonus or any points earned can only be redeemed subject to having the available credit to cover the costs of the reservations. 

On XX/XX/2024, I called membership services and was given the option to transfer XXXX points to XXXX XXXX, a travel partner, albeit I preferred the points to be transferred to XXXX XXXX but the request was denied because XXXX XXXX is not a travel partner with AMEX. I currently have a balance of XXXX XXXX but those could not be transferred as they can only transfer in increments of XXXX XXXX. I was charged a fee of {$0.00} per point to cover federal excise tax which totaled {$62.00}.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation