Consumer complaint received 2026-04-05 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I booked a two-leg flight through American Express XXXX XXXX XXXX # XXXX ) : XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) to XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX, connecting to XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, departing XX/XX/XXXX, on XXXX XXXX. The total cost was {$350.00} ( {$230.00} fare + {$110.00} taxes/fees ), paid with a split of XXXX Membership Rewards points ( {$200.00} value ) and {$150.00} charged to my American Express card ending in XXXX. The booking confirmation ( airline confirmation XXXX ) contained no disclosure of any geographic or departure-country restriction on future use of XXXX XXXX Credits. On XX/XX/XXXX, I cancelled the trip through Amex XXXX. The cancellation confirmation showed " Refund : {$0.00} '' and stated that the {$350.00} would be retained as an XXXX XXXX XXXX subject to the airline 's terms. The cancellation email 's only guidance on eCredits was generic : it noted that " the unused ticket amount and expiration date are determined by the airline '' and that credits are " subject to the terms and conditions of the airline. '' Nowhere in the cancellation email did Amex disclose any restriction requiring travel to originate from the same country as the original ticket. In XXXX XXXX, I contacted Amex Travel to rebook the eCredit on a new XXXX XXXX itinerary departing XXXX ( XXXX ) to XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). I was assigned XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Over approximately two weeks ( January 1627, 2025 ), XXXX XXXX made XXXX separate booking attempts on my behalf, generating booking references XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. All three failed. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX explained that he had spoken with XXXX XXXX internal reservations supervisors named XXXX and XXXX, who referred him to their escalation/waiver department. He reported that a representative named XXXX informed him that " the fare rules of your original reservation restrict travel to the local currency and require departure from a location in XXXX ( XXXX ). '' He stated the three bookings " were denied by XXXX XXXX because the travel credit of {$350.00} is not from the original currency/country of XXXX ( XXXX ). '' I asked XXXX XXXX to furnish documentation from XXXX XXXX specifically supporting this claimed restriction. He did not produce any direct communication from XXXX XXXX. Instead, on XX/XX/XXXX, he directed me to " review your confirmation email '' and cited the Amex XXXX XXXX XXXX, quoting bullet point XXXX : " fare rules vary by airline ; in some cases, travel must originate from the same country as your original ticket. '' On XX/XX/XXXX, he attached a screenshot he described as being " directly from XXXX XXXX website '' showing generic fare rules, but nothing in that screenshot supported the specific claim that XXXX XXXX denied rebooking due to a departure-country restriction. I pointed this out to XXXX XXXX in my XX/XX/XXXX reply, noting that the Help Center language says " in some cases '' and does not specifically attribute this policy to XXXX XXXX. Prior to this exchange, a different Amex representative had recommended I contact XXXX XXXX directly, which I did. I spoke with multiple XXXX XXXX representatives, who were perplexed by Amex 's inability to process the exchange, stating that this contradicted their typical policy of issuing travel vouchers without currency or departure-country restrictions. The representatives indicated that had I booked directly with XXXX XXXX, I would not have encountered this problem. This directly contradicts XXXX XXXX 's claim that XXXX XXXX itself denied the rebooking. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX also stated he could not offer goodwill points as a partial remedy because " this is the travel department '' and they " do not have access to giving goodwill points. '' He filed an internal global complaint on my behalf, number XXXX, stating that " a federal team will thoroughly investigate this further and will reach out back to you within XXXX weeks for a better solution, if available. '' As of today, more than 14 months later, I have received no response or resolution from that complaint nor even an acknowledgment that it was received by the " federal team. '' On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX sent his final message : " I have provided all the information available at this time. If you have any further questions, please contact the airline directly. '' This effectively terminated the conversation without resolution and shifted responsibility back to me despite Amex XXXX being the merchant that sold the ticket and issued the eCredit. In summary, the core problems are : ( 1 ) Neither the booking confirmation nor the cancellation confirmation disclosed any geographic restriction on the eCredit. ( 2 ) When I attempted to use the eCredit, Amex cited a restriction it attributed to XXXX XXXX, but never produced XXXX XXXX documentation supporting it. ( 3 ) XXXX XXXX itself told me its voucher policy does not impose such a restriction. ( 4 ) Amex 's only cited source was its own generic XXXX XXXX language that says " in some cases '' not a XXXX XXXX policy. ( 5 ) The internal complaint ( XXXX ) promised a response within XXXX weeks and was never answered. ( 6 ) The eCredit expired on XX/XX/XXXX, rendering the full {$350.00} a total loss. American Express occupied a dual role in this transaction : it is both the issuer of my credit card and the travel merchant that sold the ticket. This created a heightened duty to resolve the dispute, particularly when its own agent could not substantiate the restriction that prevented me from using the eCredit.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation