US Airways and MasterCard ripoff

[RustyShackleford]

If you had occasion to be in a US Airways area of a major
airport in the last 6 months or so, you no doubt saw many
kiosks where folks were hawking a MasterCard that had a
number of airline-related benefits, most notably a 25,000
frequent-flyer mile bonus upon the first charge to the card
and payment of a $79 annual fee. Flight attendants were
even trying to sell it in the cabin.

So I signed up, made a charge, and paid the bill including the
annual fee. That was 2 months ago. I still have not received
the frequent-flyer mileage bonus. I have made perhaps half a
dozen phone calls, some lasting well over 15 minutes, and there
has been no resolution. Agents occasionally try to tell me that
there is no such bonus until I've charged $25,000. More often,
they agree that there's a problem and promise to resolve it.
Most recently I was issued a "case number" and told it would
be resolved in 7-10 days. Today I was told "oh no, it's 30 days".

Obviously it's long since gotten to the point where it's not worth
my time to deal with this, for 25,000 miles, especially with the
way miles are being devalued these days (remember when you
REALLY could get the promised free round-trip for 25K miles ?),
but this kind of thing really pisses me off, and I hold a grudge
when anyone tries to screw me over.

So I'm posting to every forum I can, to expose the sleazy behavior
of MasterCard and US Airways, to attempt to reach other victims to
possibly organize some sort of group action, and to urge everyone to
avoid doing business with either one of these companies.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Do you have a flyer or something that spells out the bonus miles?

DH just recently resolved a problem after I had made four phone calls over a six-week period about an insurance problem (surprise! found out when the dentist submitted a bill that the insurance company showed no dental coverage for me even though it was paid for and the agency showed me as being covered). DH got through to supervisors (when my customer service people had told me there were no supervisors), lost his temper, apologized profusely, and surprise! now I'm covered. So if you haven't already, go to supervisors, more supervisors, more supervisors--DH can be extremely persistent and they couldn't wait to get his call moved along to the next level.

Does your newspaper/tv news have a problem solver column/reporter? They love stories like yours.

 

[tryan]

Yeah, when you can fly just about anywhere (not international) for $300 it's tough to justify paying an annual fee on an airline CC. Especially when it takes 5-6 years to accumulate enough points to fly "free".

 

[Westernskies]

I hold a grudge
when anyone tries to screw me over.

...here we go again.

 

[ziggy29]

Yeah, when you can fly just about anywhere (not international) for $300 it's tough to justify paying an annual fee on an airline CC. Especially when it takes 5-6 years to accumulate enough points to fly "free".

Not only that, but with the 2% cash back card we use, you only need 15,000 "points" to get the $300, and you aren't beholden to one airline. Most airline cards have a domestic round trip ticket starting at 25,000 points, and those are often heavily restricted to the red-eyes and flights with other lousy times (6 AM departures, midnight arrivals) and certain days of the week. If you want a better flight selection you may have to burn 50,000 points. Seems like a terrible deal compared with a no-fee 2% cash back deal.

 

[samclem]

The previous US Airways Visa card was also terrible. Then, US Airways and BofA parted ways and they transferred all of these customers to MasterCards, they made it very inconvenient to opt out of getting this new card (certified letter, etc). I never activated my new card, but haven't checked to see if an account is showing up on my credit report.

Yes, the cash back card is a much better deal. The initial come-on used by these airline affinity cards (low priced companion ticket, etc) is not worth the later hassle. I fly a lot, and when i see potential customers talking to the sales reps at the US Airways MasterCard kiosks I never miss a chance to stick my nose in and offer an unsolicited opinion of the whole setup.

 

[RustyShackleford]

If you want a better flight selection you may have to burn 50,000 points. Seems like a terrible deal compared with a no-fee 2% cash back deal.

Oh, I couldn't agree more. I went into it with open eyes, realizing
my $79 was buying HALF a free ticket. Still a pretty good deal, if
they really gave the miles ...