Buy your plane tickets with a credit card to avoid getting stiffed
Everyone knows that flights get delayed, canceled, moved, and now, airlines may also go bankrupt at a moment’s notice.
What’s the best way to make sure you aren’t caught with your pants down? Apparently the answer is to make sure you buy your tickets with a credit card.
What makes this different than a debit card, according to the New York Times, is that you can actually claim your money from the credit card company instead of from the airline:
Under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act, a credit card company is required to return your money for a service not supplied, like an airplane trip. Debit payment agencies are not.
In other words, by law, the credit card company can’t make you foot the bill for a canceled flight. This way they deal with the airline, and you keep your money and your time.
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Many people confuse the distinction between debit and credit cards and I think the CC companies like it that way.
CCs are great for buying large travel items, but if going international I’d recommend cash, especially for smaller items (less than $200).
Agreed, I always purchase with CC when buying travel, and other items via Internet. A cool aspect that I found on the business site, mTravel, is that you have 24-hour cancellation for free. I didn’t see that in Orbitz, Travelocity, etc.
[...] So if an airline cancels your flight, suddenly goes out of business, or whatever, your credit card company will refund your airfare. But if you used a debit card, you’re SOL. Food for thought. [via InFlightHQ] [...]
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