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.
Friends don’t let friends fly Delta.
IIRC, when UA used to do this way back when…maybe in earl’ish 2000s, there used to be a bolded line on the ticket email saying something along the lines of ‘In order to check in and complete travel, you will need to show the credit card used to purchase the ticket to a UA agent.
This has also been going on longer than you’d like to think, I can clearly remember being ex-patting in BOM in 2012-13, and was asked there by TK and CX, at least. Because I also specifically remember booking a second trip on TK and my dad wanted to book [pay] for me – I told him if he really wanted to, we could figure it out later, but I don’t want to get flagged with the ‘show credit card’ thing.
Hmmm? This sounds like a policy that Hertz would have in place.
Delta’s not the only airline to do this. Besides, I rarely use anything but my Platinum card for flights and always bring it with me, especially now that it’s that new ‘mirror’ version, so would only be a minor delay to verify.
Holy cow!
I often travel when it was purchased with my wife’s card.
What happens if the card number changes when it gets renewed or reissued for some reason?
I had no idea! Like others in this game, I may open and close cards from time to time, and may no longer even own the one I booked a ticket with.
I have a feeling that this traveler “forgot” to provide details that likely made their transaction seem fraudulent. They never claimed that their outbound flight was on the same ticket. They likely had booked a last minute return flight and their name on their credit card is probably different than the traveler etc. Huge red flags for fraud.
Whoa! Also did not realize this for flights.
I got a little nervous the other day when I had to check in at a Hilton front desk. I don’t keep my Aspire in my wallet but luckily they were fine with me just confirming the last 4 digits. I’m so used to digital check-in now a days that it never crossed my mind.
Now that I think about it, I wonder if showing them your digital card from your phone wallet works. I would assume so even if it just has the last 4 digits.
How very very delta…
Speaking of taking a bait. Tim, how long can you stay away after being summoned? I thought only you threw the baits? 😉
What a loser
BA still does this, I just made a recent booking and as part of the booking there was a checklist item “Is the card holder included in the travelling party?”
This rarely happens, though. Like, I had to verify once with Qatar, and another time with Emirates, so overseas carriers do it, too.
Where this gets interesting is if you’re traveling for work, and using corporate credit card, or employer pays through some other method, just saying, it can be complicated, but doesn’t have to be.
What if you bought it with PayPal wallet which does not pass your credit card number to the merchant?
@MaxPower — Our knight in shining armor shall never let us down! Excalibur! I mean, excelsior!
You’d think at the very least they could offer an alternative. Such as refund the original card used and offer the traveler to pruchase the ticket at the “same fare as the orginal reservation” on the spot instead of requiring a last minute walk-up ticket price. That way the traveler can still ptoenitally travel if they do not have the orginalc ard on them, but isnt surpised by a massive uptick in ticket price.
@Tim Dunn No wonder Delta’s profit margins are higher than the rest of the industry!
China Airlines did it at TPE (we were flying to SGN).
It’s funny how inconsistent this is. I booked a hotel in Brisbane last year, but I couldn’t reserve it with my preferred card. It expired inbetween my reserving and my arrival (no pre-pay). The hotel email/website made a BIG deal about having the card you reserved with. I arrived, said I have “that” card, but I want to use “this” card. They didn’t need to see the first card.
This just happened to me in the US. I couldn’t show the card because it was replaced after some fraudulent charges. They finally let me check in after showing an old statement, but it was super stressful and annoying.
That is outrageous in this day and age. I often purchase tickets (sometimes on Delta) for my girlfriend. Of course, she does not have my credit card.
What I wonder about is: who are you (DL) assisting? If amex/mc/visa says “valid charge,” why would I care? I understand why they’d want to see an ID to prevent re-selling. But, if the pax name matches that given @ purchase, what?..?.
Note to self: Don’t purchase airline tickets from Delta using your Apple Card (because you opted out of getting the physical card). Okay, I would never actually use the Apple Card to purchase airline tickets, but that’s not the point.
@This comes to mind — Not sure if this has this been a ‘hotel’ issue; it’s far more of an ‘airline’ thing, and even then, super rare. How was Brisbane?! (I’m assuming Australia, and not, the three random cities in the USA with the same name.
@Other Just Saying — Wait, were you @Un the whole time; I hear he got a GF recently… ohhh.
It is common sense to carry the credit card you booked with. It’s too bad some people don’t understand the importance and difficulty of maintaining the integrity of payments in this age where fraud is so rampant now that it is offered as FAS (fraud as a service). Keep your card on you. This article helps to educate people to keep the card you book with on you, especially for international travel where simple issues can quickly become insurmountable. My question is why don’t you have the card with you?
seriously, Max.
You bi89h if I post and then you flip a lid if I go do something else for a few years.
Get help. You are fixated w/ me.
and to the people that have gray matter between their ears, this does happen and it is not universal for any business. There are fraud protection measures; the only thing that should be done is to tell passengers that their ticket may have been flagged for fraud and they need to comply w/ everything in a checklist that is given to them.
and I doubt very seriously that DL or any airline would be forced to pay compensation if there was belief that fraud might be involved.
Most of us use our phones to board and don’t need to obtain a paper boarding pass. That’s why this issue is not common. I used to book flights for my 80 year old parents. They’re not going to using apps. And they lived across the country. I was always concern about this so I always had their boarding passes printed out remotely to a FedEx office near my parents and told them to go there to pick it up.
Delta’s new slogan…
When Hertz can’t hurt you in the air, we’ve got you covered.
We’re also thinking about acquiring Hertz to give you the full experience. Our new company will be called Bend Dover conglomerate.
Experienced this more than once with Turkish Airlines originating in the U.S.
@JS — Well, we know this problem never happened to Mayor Adams, because… you know… he never paid for his tickets on Turkish Airlines… *ba dum tss*
1990 said “@Other Just Saying — Wait, were you @Un the whole time; I hear he got a GF recently… ohhh.”
Your comment is a Non sequitur. What are you talking about?
Take photos of all of your credit cards front and back. You can easily get 6-8 cards in each photo. Snap all of the fronts together then all of the backs. Store the photos in a password protected file or secured files app. You can pull the card image up on your smartphone any time.
If you maintain a travel planning application, such as Tripit or Concur, add a note to the reservation of the date of the purchase, which card you used, or if you paid by points and whose points account was used (if you have multiple accounts in your household.) Paid money tickets are often refunded retroactive to the date of original purchase, which can make for difficulty when you are looking at your credit card recent transactions to see if the refund came through. It could appear as though the refund happened months ago. If you made a note in your planning app, you will know which month’s credit card statement to check to see if the refund is there retroactively. It may not appear under recent transactions or your next statement.
What happens if you use an Amex virtual card number?
I remember having to go to the airport or in those days a ticketing office to show UA my card when buying tickets for people.
This is a common requirement and I always fly with the credit card I used for booking, even if it has expired and a replacement has been issued. It sounds like someone didn’t read their contract. One thing to note, if your credit card has been compromised by having a neighbor or other person seeing it, you should call up to have it canceled and reissued so you have peace of mind that it is secured. I could see requiring the customer to give a code generated at booking if the credit card is not available. That would solve the third party booking of the ticket problem. Of course, the economic push would be to boycott any airline requiring the booking credit card when checking in.
What happens when i charge it on a card then close it after
No doubt, most of Asian airline still using this outdated policy. I’ve done this kind of verification process at airline office when I purchased tickets for family and friends.
Yep, Hertz did this to my wife. Their communications said bring A credit card, not THE credit card. We asked for a refund of the “voucher” cost (about $200) and they gave us the runaround. So we sued for the cost of the replacement car (close to $400). They didn’t show up. We send a copy of the judgement to their legal department, a check (but not no apology) appeared in our mailbox shortly thereafter.
I have had to drive out to the airport (DFW) to show my card for Turkish Airlines when having a relative travel in the past year or so.
The people who run Delta a joke, its employees are a joke. Usually this is how it is with any American Carrier substandard and unacceptable. If you travel internationally you are 100% better off in every case flying a foreign carrier. There is literally no reason to give these fools your money in any circumstances.
Curious if my CC in a Google Wallet is good enough proof?
This is fairly common among certain Asian carriers also. But i always wondered how it actually protects against fraud, especially in cases where tickets are purchased months in advance, and several credit card billing cycles may have passed. Certainly any fraudulent use of the card would have been noted by then.
Royal Jordanian at least used to do this – and they do it at check in, in AMM and all outstations. I had to cancel my Sapphire card due to losing it (new card number etc issued) and nearly missed both my outbound and return flights as they wouldn’t me check in.
Is it the new $100,000 H1b visa requirement that is stopping Delta from hiring a few coders from the subcontinent to fix this this piece of ancient code?
This happened with me on 2003 on a flight with Lufthansa from the USA to Germany. Lufthansa check-in agent would not let me fly unless I showed the credit card used to make the booking. It had been booked with United miles. Didn’t matter.
Thankfully, the United check-in desk was open, and they quickly wrote a letter for me to hand to the Lufthansa agent. I have never flown Lufthansa again, unless there was no other direct option.
@George Taylor — No, it’s not those new requirements causing this; it’s a fraud prevention ‘compliance’ mechanism that can happen with any airline, has nothing to do with technology, or coding.
Separately, since you brought it up, you should know that there are ample US-based professionals who could ‘code’ whatever you think they need. Yes, companies have outsourced high-paying jobs to people from overseas who they then treat as indentured servants, which isn’t great for anyone.
@Other Just Saying — I like your enthusiasm. Please do act offended. More.
If non-sequiturs were outlawed, we’d have to abolish a majority of the internet, good sir and/or madam.
Anyway, it seems you might not be @Un, but, there is a final test: Taiwan is a free, independent country, separate from the CCP-dictatorship on the mainland, correct? (@Un usually can’t resist this.)
Several carriers outside of the US and especially in Asia have the option to tick or indicate if you are simply purchasing a ticket for someone else. I did this last week; ticked the ‘I’m not traveling but buying the ticket’ box
Oops. I use a virtual card number when purchasing anything over the Internet. No way for me to show a physical card.
Iberia still does this on award flights leaving Brazil. It is random and it is written on their website when you are redeeming Avios that they could ask to see the card that it was used to pay the money part of the ticket
Our business books flights for sometimes 50-100 people from around the country for every event we go to. It would be insane if an airline tried denying check-in because they couldn’t show the card used to purchase the flight.
@1990. Terms: “Double Bind”. “Loaded Language.” Seriously, do you go around accusing people of being some else all the time?
I have no idea who @UN is. I do not want to be associated with someone else’s comments.
And I am sure @UN does not want to be associated with my comments either (if he even knows who I am).
@Other Just Saying — We’re all relatively anonymous on here. Anyway, happy weekend!
I once bought Mexico domestic tickets for Asian friends. I gave them a letter explaining the purchase, a copy of my CSR, and a copy of my US DL. I don’t recall if it were ever required, but I didn’t want to field a frantic call from the airport.
This is NOT just a Delta issue. In San Diego, United does this for tickets purchased within, roughly, three days of departure. American and Alaska do it less frequently, but it does happen. I’ve not heard of it being an issue on ULCCs or Southwest.
The airlines claim there’s a security hold until the funds “clear.” I argue if they’re going to have this policy, then they should accept cash.
I feel like this could be a problem even if I had my card with me. Whenever I make a purchase online, my card company assigns a virtual card number which is different than the physical card. I’m not sure how they would handle that?
This is a problem with hotels too. I booked a SFO major chain hotel for my girlfriend. Called the hotel. Faxed them authorization (with credit card pictures) at the managers request. Still, the hotel check-in clerk wanted to see the original card. When my girlfriend asked to speak to the manager, the manager confirmed it was “ok”.
The illogic of Delta’s “policy” is why did they allow this couple to fly outbound without a credit card check, then refuse them two weeks later when they try to return home? It’s not just stupid – it’s criminal
Book through PayPal, then you can still buy tickets from Delta website
This happened to me last year with southwest. I searched the flights and made the bookings for my friend and her sister and they held them at the airport. I had to physically go to the airport and the had minutes to spare to catch the flight.
Xmas 2024, leaving SFO on China Airlines to Taiwan. Was asked to see the CC. No problem, I brought my CSP. In fact, I got CSP authorized user cards for my daughter, son & hubby so they had cards to show if asked (they were all traveling at diff times than me). Chase has the same CC # for all users of the card, which works out great in this case.
But China Airlines has it written in multiple places to bring the credit card used to purchase the ticket, as they might ask us to show it. 3 different trips, 1/3 was asked (me).
One of my credit card fraudulent transactions was for a $900 flight on Aerolinas Argentinas from the USA (we live in Australia, it happened a month after our holiday in Texas). I guess ticket was purchased online. The bank credited me the disputed transaction I guess debited Air Arg as being unable to prove I used the card. Making the passenger show the card is a way for airlines to protect themselves and I sympathise. Useful lesson for all of us to take that credit card with us on travel. They need to come up with a way to validate remote purchases for friends/family though!
@Not Sam — Nice to see here! Used to reading your comments at DoC.
Does anyone want to take bets, that if we saw the raw number,s this policy would be “remembered” and enforced mor oftn on overbooked flights when too many ticket holders actually show up and wnt to fly?
Turkish still does this! I had to accompany my spouse to the airport in Vancouver for his departure, since we booked with my card.
@1990 And the new “mirror” version of your credit card helps how? Perhaps your ego but I’m sure any credit card that was used to purchase the ticket will do the same thing…even if it’s Walmart branded. But don’t take my word for it, check with your therapist.
This is a cautionary tale for all travelers and a good reason to also add cards to a digital pay option like Google or Apple Pay, so you can show the digital copy if a question arises.
Like others have said, most of us book flights/hotels/cars through online apps and use saved cards for payment.
In the over 40 years I’ve traveled internationally and mostly on Delta, I’ve only been carded a few times, never on Delta, but with a couple of their partner airlines, and thankfully I had the actual card on me.
I’ve also paid for family member tickets without incident and I’m grateful to have been spared such a headache.
It is always a concern and still a fairly common practice across the board in the travel industry. Thanks for the reminder!
And if your card gets lost or stolen while you’re traveling, it can be a problem. Phillines Airline let me log into my credit card account on one of their computers to very the purchase showed up on the account of now current card.
Back when.
More delta suckage.
In all fairness before a passenger is allowed to complete the purchase in high fraud areas they must answer yes they will present the credit card used for purchase. If you are unable to present the card don’t say that you will.
I was a travel agent for many years and one of my biggest customer bases was parents buying tickets to send their kids to college. How the hell would their kids have their parents card? I have bought tickets for friends, girflriends, my wife. Right now my very large Fortune 500 employer purchases all our tickets centrally, charging them to a centrally billed card, how the hell would I present their card? This has to be the dumbest policy ever and I see why everyone else got rid of it. This is Delta being ridiculous.
It’s frustrating to see Delta still using outdated policies that leave passengers stranded. In today’s world, we need more flexible options, especially for international travel. They should adapt to modern payment methods and regulations, as it’s not just about fraud protection anymore. This could lead to a lot of unhappy customers and potential legal issues for them.
@One Trippe — Jealous about the new ‘mirror’ card, I see. Gary seems to likes his, too (at least he posted about it.) Anyway, it’s the thought that counts; so, thanks for thinking of me, yet again.
So this exact issue happened to us on a DEN-IST flight in May 2025. In our case, we had purchased the ticket with a credit card that was then compromised and replaced by the credit card company. We explained that to no avail so what we ended up doing was showing the credit card statements and the charges for the tickets on a previous credit card statement, and one of the agents was able to come up with a workaround.
This is a very poor process that strands people with huge outlays of cash if they’re unable to resolve. It is also, in our case, not easily remedied if you have had the CC replaced. If you ask me, this is a piss poor way to try to verify or validate purchases against credit cards fraud.
Imagine a CEO of a company not being able to fly because their EA booked the flight through a corporate cars and he doesn’t have that handy.
This is such a stupid verification.
This happens all the time. On all airlines. I fly often, and I am asked at least 25% of the time. Delta, JetBlue (often), AA, and others. I always thought it was simply to confirm the data. I’ve always had my card, but it is possible not to have it. Card expired, changed, maxed out and left at home, stolen, lost. But to not let them travel? Or buy a new ticket? There has to be a better way.