AFP file photo
MANILA, Philippines – A budget airline firm whose credit card policy has incurred the ire of several passengers bound for Singapore last Tuesday insisted that this was “common practice” in the industry and meant as protection against “fraudulent purchases”.
“Providing credit card verification is a requirement of travel on Jetstar Asia between Manila and Singapore,” Tyler Thia, Jetstar Asia’s corporate communications advisor told INQUIRER.net in an email.
“Credit card verification in the airlines industry is a common practice and help protects from fraudulent purchases,” said Thia.
Thia issued the statement after INQUIRER.net reported that Jetstar’s “no physical credit card, no accommodation policy” irked several Manila passengers bound for Singapore, some of who were unable to take Flight 3K78 because they failed to present the credit card used to pay for their tickets as required by the airline at its check-in counter at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Thia said that they reminded Jetstar Asia passengers of their requirements for credit card verification.
“Credit card owners need to bring along a government identification card along with their credit card to verify their purchase at the Jetstar check-in counter or the Jetstar service desks in Changi Airport or the Ninoy Aquino International (NAIA) airport. Passengers in Manila may also visit the MIASCOR office on level 4 located at the airport,” he said.
Thia maintained that passengers were informed of Jetstar Asia’s process of credit card verification.
“Every effort has been made to communicate to our passengers the verification process. At the time of the booking, credit card owners are notified of this requirement. This is also reflected in the itinerary and post booking email. Jetstar will also be sending an SMS notice to customers before they travel to remind them of this requirement,” he said.
“At the airport, should passengers unable to fulfil the credit card verification requirements, they may choose to pay for the tickets in cash, and submit a request for the amount that was charged to their credit card to be refunded,” Thia added.
One of the passengers at that time was INQUIRER.net’s Joanne Llavore who was initially barred from boarding Jetstar Asia Flight 3K78 since she did not have with her the credit card used to purchase her Jetstar Asia ticket online.
She was on her way to Singapore for a business conference and booked her flight using INQUIRER.net’s corporate credit card.
When asked whether Jetstar Asia applied the same policy to corporate credit cards, there was no response from Thia.
Llavore presented a photocopy of the credit card used to book her flight but this was not accepted by Jetstar’s staff.
Llavore ended up paying cash for her two-way ticket at the airport’s check-in counter.
As a result of the “no physical credit card, no accommodation policy”, several passengers had to cancel their flight as they too were unable to present their companies’ credit cards.
“Jetstar Asia regrets that passengers who were unable to verify the credit card used for booking the tickets has to pay for the booking, should they wish to board the flight. The payment made on the credit card for the booking will then be refunded,” said Thia.