Frontier Airlines Makes Bizarre Credit Card Claim With DOT, Then Backtracks

Several weeks ago, I wrote about a frustrating situation that an OMAAT reader dealt with when booking a Frontier Airlines flight. Long story short, he used a friend’s credit card to buy a Frontier ticket, since that friend had an Amex Offers deal on it, which offered a discount on the flight (fair enough, that’s smart!).

However, the traveler noticed something wasn’t right when he tried to check-in online. So he contacted Frontier support, and was told to bring copies of the purchaser’s ID and credit card to the airport, which he did. Despite that, he was denied boarding, and was told that the actual credit card holder had to be present at the airport, despite no such requirement in the contract of carriage.

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Well, there’s now an interesting update, and it really shows you how frustrating it can be to deal with airlines (even when I intervene and try to help!).

Frontier makes absurd claim about credit card rules

When I first wrote about this situation about a month ago, I reached out to Frontier corporate communications to ask them to clarify the policy. They said they were looking into it, and never got back to me with an answer, despite following up.

So the reader filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation (DOT), which is one of the best ways to get an airline to respond to your complaint, since the DOT has to be copied on correspondence. Interestingly, Frontier doubled down on the initial claim, and wrote the following:

As per Frontier Airlines’ policy, when a ticket is purchased using a credit card by someone who is not traveling, the cardholder must be physically present at the airport with the original credit card and a valid government-issued photo ID. This requirement is in place to ensure the security and verification of payment details.

Of course this is completely ridiculous and baseless. Think about this for a second — Frontier really wants to claim that the cardholder has to consistently be physically present if the name of the passenger doesn’t match the name of the cardmember?

So that would mean passengers couldn’t book tickets for their spouse, for a child returning home from college, for an employee or business associate, etc. While different airlines have different policies when it comes to credit card security, there’s not an airline in the world with such a strict policy.

Frontier now clarifies that its claim isn’t actually correct

When the reader shared the latest correspondence with me, I wanted to give the airline one more chance to set the record straight. So I explained I’d be writing a follow-up story, and asked if Frontier’s policy is really that nobody can buy a ticket for anyone else with a credit card, unless they actually are present at the airport.

The airline did finally get back to me to clarify the policy. Not surprisingly, the initial claim wasn’t correct:

To be clear, our policy does not require a cardholder to be physically present at the airport any time they buy a ticket for someone else traveling, and different names between a ticketed passenger and credit card used alone will not flag a reservation for potential fraud. Other possible indicators – such as an abnormal IP address or a history of chargebacks with the credit card, to name a couple – may flag a reservation for potential fraud.

In-person verification at the airport with ID and credit card is only required when a reservation is flagged for potential fraud, as was the case in this instance. We sincerely apologize for the confusion and inconvenience that followed, and as such issued a full refund to the customer involved. We always strive for a seamless travel experience.

Our Customer Care team is coordinating with agents now to ensure that this information is shared accurately going forward.

Well of course the airline refunded him (that was already done at the time), since they literally denied him boarding. But Frontier still hasn’t actually addressed this passenger’s concerns:

• He followed Frontier’s policies, was never informed in advance of an issue, and when he discovered there was an issue, he did exactly what he was told
• He was then denied check-in and boarding, and ultimately was out of pocket for having to buy a ticket on another airline
• All the while, he was told he was violating the contract of carriage, without anyone actually being able to tell him which part of the contract of carriage covers this

It’s totally reasonable that companies have policies in place to minimize credit card fraud. However, they need to inform passengers of this in advance, and be clear about what passengers can do to address those concerns.

In this case he was told by a representative what to do, he did it, and then at the airport he was told that’s not enough. That’s unprofessional and disorganized at best, and unethical at worst.

Bottom line

As I wrote about some time back, a Frontier Airlines passenger was denied check-in and boarding for booking a ticket with someone else’s credit card, despite nothing in the contract of carriage requiring that. When he contacted the airline, he was told he’d need a copy of the credit card and ID, which he brought, but he was still denied boarding.

He filed a DOT complaint, in which Frontier claimed that the airline doesn’t allow third party payment, unless the cardmember is physically present at the airport. That of course makes no sense, and I followed up with the airline, which confirmed this wasn’t actually the policy.

The airline is framing a refund for the passenger as some sort of courtesy, when that’s the minimum that has to be done if you deny someone boarding with no basis that’s supported in the contract of carriage. The airline is seemingly refusing to do anything else, though, to make things right.

What do you make of this Frontier Airlines credit card saga?