Lehi – Peggy Lundberg was ready to explore Virginia with friends, but life forced her to suddenly change her travel plans.
“I canceled my ticket,” Lundberg said. “American Airlines gave me full credit and told me I could use the credit for a year.”
Seven months later, she was ready to use more than $1,200 in flight credits.
“I went online to try and book a ticket, but I couldn’t do it,” she said.
Lundberg immediately called American Airlines customer service and received bad news. Someone had already used her trust to buy a plane ticket to Pennsylvania for a woman with an entirely different name.
Lundberg said the suspect stole more than $1,200 worth of credit. (Josh Zymanik, KSL TV)
“I don't know her. I've never heard of her. I don't know anyone by that name,” Lundberg said.
becomes terrible. Lundberg's trust will never be regained. Yet, the American Airlines website says she is the only one who can use her ticket credit because her name is on her original ticket.
“He said, 'We're sorry this happened, but there's nothing we can do,'” Lundberg said of calling American Airlines customer service. Ta.
That didn't make sense to her, so she contacted KSL investigators.
Should airlines refund stolen credits?
While federal law can protect credit cards and bank accounts from thieves and hackers, travel credit has no such protection.
“It really depends on a case-by-case basis,” said Katie Nastro of the travel website Going. “There is no official law on whether they need to be reinstated.”
So how are flight credits stolen? According to Nastro, it's often through fake travel booking sites.
These are clever and often look like legitimate sites asking all the right questions, with the lure of deep discounts.
“Scammers are trying to deliver some kind of information on a silver platter,” Nastro said.
Information such as name, address, payment, and travel credit number.
what happened?
KSL investigators contacted American Airlines and asked what happened to Peggy Lundberg's credit.
American Airlines counter at Salt Lake International Airport. (Eddie Collins, KSL TV)
In her case, it appears the thieves actually used a small portion of her flight credits to book airline tickets in Lundberg's name. American Airlines then reissued the remaining credits as travel credits for anyone to use.
“I want to regain trust,” she said.
When I asked American Airlines about this, they said no, as the travel credit terms and conditions state that lost or stolen credits will not be replaced. Passengers are told to protect these numbers “just like you would handle cash”.
Therefore, there will be no credit refund to Lundberg. “Customer service is of the utmost importance to American Airlines and we do not tolerate fraudsters taking advantage of our customers,” an American Airlines spokesperson said in a statement.
Is there any remedy?
Nastro said travel credits vary by airline and “no” is not always the answer. She advises that if you get an answer you don't like, politely hang up and try again.
“It’s OK to continually contact the airline,” she said. “That's because you need to reach out to someone who might be in the right position and has a little more experience with your particular case.”
