I'm out of luck, aren't I? (CC Vent)

[RachelEllen]

Just a credit card vent.

I signed up for one of those airline credit cards last October. One of the benefits was that, if you spend $25,000 in a year, you would get 10,000 miles towards preferred status.

I asked when I applied and several times since how that year was calculated. I was always told that it began when your credit card cycle began. (That is, when your annual fee was assessed) I planned a lot of other credit card usage, large payments, etc. with that knowledge.

Now, I have just gone over the $25,000. And it seems that US Airways has redone their dividend miles program as of MidMay. Now, they are counting that benefit as in the 'calandar year.'

Not to overwhelm with detail, but this will basically cost me the benefit, which will cost me my tier status, which will cost me upgrades, club membership, extra miles, etc. It's a huge cost. And, it's not like I couldn't have arranged things to have the 25,000 spent in a calandar year. I just arranged my finacnes under the old terms.

I think I'm just out of luck. They have the right to change terms at any point. But I'm really annoyed. They won't even aknowlege that the terms have changed. Just that I must have been misinformed. It's a bit condescending (oh...you must not have understood). No, I understood perfectly. The original written terms were just ambiguous (just said 'in a year'), and the telephone clarifications I got were quite clear about how the program worked.

Nothing I can do. But as a really loyal customer to this airline, I'm fairly ticked off.

 

[auntpolly]

I think it's always worth fighting for. You wouldn't believe the things people I know have gotten from fighting with the airlines (DH being at the top of that list).

They can change the terms, but you can argue that you should get what they promised you when you began. Otherwise, it's like bait and switch.

Couldn't hurt -- might help -- that's my motto.

 

[escape]

I have a friend that was in somehwhat of a similar position. She was able to talk (argue, knowing her ) to a cc supervisor/manager and get her original agreement honored.

My friend's point was that when she signed up, she agreed to the stated conditions that must be met. However, the conditions were changed and my friend said she never would have signed up under the new circumstances. Long story short, and probably after threatening to call the BBB or Attorney General's office, my friend was able to use the points as originally stated.

As auntpolly stated, it's worth a try! Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

 

[RachelEllen]

Thanks for the encourgement. A manager is supposed to call me back. I've looked at every peice of paper I kept from the card. I think my problem is going to be that the terms are ambiguous. The words '$25,000 spent annually' are used a lot. On the new site, that is clarified as '$25,000 spent per calandar year' But if they insist that I was just told the wrong information over the phone, it's my word against theirs.