Delta Air Lines often asks passengers to see the credit card they used to buy their ticket in order to allow check-in. This seems to happen with some frequency before flights departing London Heathrow. And it catches customers by surprise – who may not have the card with them.

• Twenty five years ago this was common as a way to fight fraud. If I bought a ticket for someone direct from an airline, I’d stop by an airport (or a city ticket office, back then!) to have them document the reservation that the credit card had already been shown.

• That led me to buy tickets from online travel agencies. Those agencies were on the hook, and the airline was less concerned with checking credit cards on third party bookings.

• Other airlines stopped the practice, and while Delta doesn’t do this with most customers they still seem to do it when other airlines do not.

One passenger tried to check-in at a kiosk at Heathrow and check-in for their flight to Seattle failed. Delta agents couldn’t help – they could only demand to see the card used for purchase, but the travelers didn’t have it. There were no other options – except to buy new walk up tickets for $6,000 or not travel home.

They finally got help from a neighbor, at 3 a.m. local time in Seattle, to break into their house to find and take photos of the card – and Delta accepted the photos. We’ve seen this with others, too.

I bought a ticket for my parents and my child. They told me the agent refused to check them in because they didn’t have my credit card (which was used to book the flight) with them.

Now Delta wants me to reschedule the flight for $4,000 extra. I’m disgusted. How is this even a thing.

Delta refused to check in without credit card
byu/elves2732 indelta

Here’s another,

I booked a flight for my daughter’s fiancé. I called to find out what to do as he did not have the booking credit card and was coming from out of the country. I was told to visit the nearest airport, and they checked the booking and added a special note to the flight. They needed to verify the credit card in person.

Delta says the policy is to “safeguard against fraud” and that showing the card and ID may be required depending on the billing address or travel country. However it seems to me that accepting payment, issuing a ticket, and then refusing travel is illegal.

• For someone who actually travels (because they got a photo of their card from a neighbor!) no compensation is due.

• For a departure from the U.K., UK261 would apply – requiring compensation of £260–£520 per person depending on the delay after re-routing, unless Delta could show a narrow “health/safety/security or inadequate documents” justification. A payment card isn’t a travel document, however. The same approach applies for departures from the rest of Europe (EU261).

European and U.K. guidance stresses the carrier can’t unilaterally decide what’s “reasonable” to avoid compensation. If Delta turns someone away solely for not presenting the purchase card, they’d owe cash compensation. The airline will put up a fight but they’re wrong.

The airline does have a written policy but few would ever see this during their purchase.

To safeguard against credit/debit card fraud, the purchaser may have to show us the credit/debit card along with a valid photo ID. The time varies based on the billing address of the credit/debit card or the country of travel. If the purchaser is not traveling, they can show us their credit/debit card and ID at an airport ticket counter or another ticket office location, whichever is most convenient.

If you’re going to fly Delta, it’s worth knowing you should probably be sure to bring the credit card used for purchase with you to the airport – especially for travel originating outside the United States. If you’re booking for someone else, don’t book direct – use an agency.