Have you ever booked a flight with a credit card, but then left that card at home?
That mistake only needs to happen once, to learn why you want to bring that card along if you are traveling to certain destinations.
Herb Weisbaum, a consumer expert and contributing editor at Checkbook.org, learned this lesson the hard way.
The former Today Show correspondent was stumped returning home from a trip with his wife to England when they were denied boarding their return flight home.
"Went to the kiosk where you get your boarding pass, and it said the only way we could identify ourselves and start the process was with the credit card we had purchased the ticket with," Weisbaum said.
Watch how you could be denied boarding a return flight if you don't have the correct credit card with you:
A Delta agent said he needed to show that specific card, but that card was at home.
"Like many people, I don't travel with all my credit cards; I leave some of them home and did not think to bring the card I had purchased the ticket with three months earlier," Weisbaum said.
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Despite having a passport, driver's license and confirmation code, that wasn't enough to get their boarding passes.
Weisbaum says they were given three options: buy a $3,000 one-way ticket home ($6,000 for two tickets), stay in London, or have someone send a photo of the missing credit card. He chose option three.
"I called my good neighbor Sam; he broke into my house at 3 in the morning, legally," Weisbaum explained. "I told him how to get in, and he texted the picture and I was able to get on the flight."
Bizarre policy can mean you get stuck overseas
We reached out to Delta Air Lines for clarification on its credit card policy. A spokesperson tells us "that most customers in most instances will not have to show the card used to purchase their booking at the airport."
The airline provides this guidance to customers on its "Booking Information" webpage:
"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."
Weisbaum says a Delta agent told him this was not an isolated incident.
"Families send their kids over -- the kid doesn't have the credit card. Business people travel. She said ‘no,’ this is not an isolated case," he said.
This appears to be more common with international flights.
Still, it might be worth carrying the card you bought the ticket with, even on domestic flights just to be safe.
"If that's the policy, tell me about it. Make it very, very clear," Weisbaum said.
Traveler Stacey Davis agrees you should always pack the credit card you used to book your flight after experiencing her own difficulties on one recent flight.
"I didn't have the right card, so we had to go through is this really your card, switch to a different card. It did make it a little difficult," Davis said.
So bring the card you booked the flight with, so you don’t waste your money.
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This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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