What to Do With Your Rewards Travel Plans
While most airlines and hotels have announced how to change or cancel reservations due to the coronavirus, you might be wondering what to do with the travel plans you’ve made with your bonus credit card. What happens next if you made a booking using points or miles?
I checked three major bonus card issuers to see what policies they offer at this confusing time.
In short: check with your airline , hotel or rental car before using your credit card. Then determine when is the best time to call your credit card company. Essentially, issuers are asking customers to refrain from calling for future travel in order to reduce waiting times for customers who have tickets for the next few days.
Ultimate Pursuit Rewards
Chase created an Ultimate Rewards travel cancellation and change instructions page .
If you booked with Ultimate Rewards , you can submit your cancellation request online. If you paid with points, you will receive them back to your account.
If there are three to seven days left before your trip starts, Chase will ask you to use the return form above. Call Customer Service (number on the back of your card) if there are less than three days left before your trip.
You can also make changes to your ride (for example, choose a later date) by logging into Ultimate Rewards.
Capital One Travel
Capital One recommends that you check with the airline you have booked your bonus trip for before contacting Capital One.
If your trip starts within the next three to five days, the company recommends calling; if he is further away, he asks you to wait and call closer to the date of the trip.
American Express Travel
If your trip is more than 72 hours away, American Express will ask you not to call. If you need to change or cancel a trip you booked through American Express Travel, the company will comply with the airline / hotel / cruise / car rental policies. It also waives its own flight change fees before April 30th.
American Express will process canceled tickets as credit refunds, even if you paid with points, according to The Points Guy . However, this site received news from customers who were able to receive a refund in the form of points.
Have you ever had to cancel travel arrangements that you made for points or miles? Tell us about your experience and share tips for managing your upcoming trips in the comments.