Turkish Airline /Miles/ Credit card verification problem

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Mods please leave here in regional forum, looking for Turkish members who may have been through this.

I have a Turkish Airline problem.

I want to use my miles to book a flight from Ercan (Lefkosa, Cyprus) to Chicago and pay online or over the phone for my fiance.
I was told that before boarding my fiance would be asked to present the credit card the trip was paid with for verification purposes (Fraud protection).

Obviously he doesn't have the CC and it is here with me with my name on it.

Has anyone been through this and how did you verify the card?

Problem is there is no TA office or ticket counter at any airport near me to verify the card in person like they tell me to do so

he wouldn't have to be hassled and the nearest from me would require a 10 hr round car trip which would be ridiculous.

I may as well walk to Cyprus and we walk back home.
I have talked to numerous supervisers and agents and get a different story every time.

I have been up for days talking in the middle of the night for hours on end demanding to speak to supervisors and still no end in sight.
TA is extremely ignorant with issues such as this.

Each call to find an answer required several more calls to find out the info was wrong.

Contrdicting information I have received :

I need 30.000 miles for a one way flight. (Right)

I need 42.000 miles for a one way flight. (Wrong)
I can't buy more than 10.000 miles for a trip.(Wrong)

I need to add my fiance to my Miles account online. (Wrong)
I can't add him unless I am married.(Right)
He can go to the local branch and pay in person.(Wrong)

I was assured he can do this and there would be no problem. He gets there and they tell

him that he can't book the flight with my miles account.

Thanks to their stupidity I now am looking at paying 5 times as much as what it would have cost if I could have used my miles.

Anyone been through this maze ? Remember I can't verify in person at a TA office/counter.

Surely there has to be a way for them to verify the dang credit card some way somehow. Evidently their systems are archaic.

[louise81 0]

Sorry, I posted here and then realized my experience doesn't really apply. Dealing with Turkish Airlines can be tough - good luck!

Edited November 8, 2014 by louise81

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Thank you. The flights have always been pleasant and the fares decent but the customer service is a living nightmare and

know one knows what is going on. Pisses me off that I will lose about 30.000 miles for only a $150 for a ticket because of this stupid CC verification

over $ 15 tax for a CC charge. Just unbeleivable.

Please someone there has to be a way out of this.

[louise81 0]

This may be obvious, but have you tried doing it through the website and then using his credit/debt card for the fee? Otherwise, unless they are refusing to issue the ticket without verification, I would say just book it (through the website if necessary) and he can argue with them about it when he gets to the airport, maybe even with a copy of your credit card and a notarized letter or something official looking that would please them - I would be shocked if they refused to let him board over a $15 fee.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

This may be obvious, but have you tried doing it through the website and then using his credit/debt card for the fee? Otherwise, unless they are refusing to issue the ticket without verification, I would say just book it (through the website if necessary) and he can argue with them about it when he gets to the airport, maybe even with a copy of your credit card and a notarized letter or something official looking that would please them - I would be shocked if they refused to let him board over a $15 fee.

He doesn't have a CC but maybe his friend does. I will mull that one over. If his friend can go with him to the airport..... but his name would again

not be on the card. One agent said if they aren't shown the CC at that time the system won't allow them to issue a boarding pass. They also said

a copy of the CC would not do. I wonder though if a copy with both sides of the CC would be sufficient with a Supervisor's waiver or something.

They said he can't pay because the miles belong to me at the TA branch office. He wanted to pay with cash but was told he can only pay a regular

no miles ticket or his miles (he has none). Of course the headquarters office on the phone said yes he can.

It's risky but for $150 worth a try perhaps. I will get a notarized letter just in case and my passport page and DL as a copy just in case if I decide

to risk it.

Thanks for brain storming with me, nothing is really obvious because I am in sleep deprived mode for days over this. Ate breakfast at 3pm today

ready for bed soon to catch up with some zzzz's. These overseas midnight calls are a walk in the twilight zone especially with TA on the other end

of the line. Rude agents overtalking you, not giving you even the chance to tell your story for the umpteens time until I lose it and start screaming for

yet another supervisor.

Edited November 8, 2014 by Ebunoluwa

[louise81 0]

He doesn't have a CC but maybe his friend does. I will mull that one over. If his friend can go with him to the airport..... but his name would again

not be on the card. One agent said if they aren't shown the CC at that time the system won't allow them to issue a boarding pass. They also said

a copy of the CC would not do. I wonder though if a copy with both sides of the CC would be sufficient with a Supervisor's waiver or something.

They said he can't pay because the miles belong to me at the TA branch office. He wanted to pay with cash but was told he can only pay a regular

no miles ticket or his miles (he has none). Of course the headquarters office on the phone said yes he can.

It's risky but for $150 worth a try perhaps. I will get a notarized letter just in case and my passport page and DL as a copy just in case if I decide

to risk it.

Thanks for brain storming with me, nothing is really obvious because I am in sleep deprived mode for days over this. Ate breakfast at 3pm today

ready for bed soon to catch up with some zzzz's. These overseas midnight calls are a walk in the twilight zone especially with TA on the other end

of the line. Rude agents overtalking you, not giving you even the chance to tell your story for the umpteens time until I lose it and start screaming for

yet another supervisor.

The thing about the system not allowing it sounds like BS to me - the agent would just have to hit "yes" or "no" in the computer, it's not like the computer knows whether or not the agent has been shown the credit card. In my experience (admittedly brief) in Turkey, things are often dependent on the discretion/generosity of the person who is handling you but, on the other hand, if you dig in your heels, often things work out. That's why I think it might be worth a shot for him to go to the airport, get there early, armed with paperwork, notarized letter, whatever, and see what happens.

Edited November 8, 2014 by louise81

[louise81 0]

Turkish Airlines FAQ seems to confirm everything they're telling you - you have to have the credit card at check-in and you cannot use someone else's credit card to book using your miles. http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/miles-and-smiles/faq/online-award-ticketMy only other thought is to try booking it by phone without paying the fee and then have him take the actual booking into the ticket office and try to pay the fee (rather than him trying to both book the ticket and pay the fee).

One more idea - what about transferring your miles to him and then he can book it himself? I think you have to pay a fee to transfer miles but not sure what it is.

Anyway, I was hoping to find a solution but there doesn't seem to be an obvious one. I know the frustration of getting ten different answers from ten different phone calls. Best of luck!

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Turkish Airlines FAQ seems to confirm everything they're telling you - you have to have the credit card at check-in and you cannot use someone else's credit card to book using your miles. http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/miles-and-smiles/faq/online-award-ticketMy only other thought is to try booking it by phone without paying the fee and then have him take the actual booking into the ticket office and try to pay the fee (rather than him trying to both book the ticket and pay the fee).

One more idea - what about transferring your miles to him and then he can book it himself? I think you have to pay a fee to transfer miles but not sure what it is.

Anyway, I was hoping to find a solution but there doesn't seem to be an obvious one. I know the frustration of getting ten different answers from ten different phone calls. Best of luck!

Will try the booking and not paying but think it has to be paid at the time of booking. I think it won't work because he would be paying with my miles

being involved for the ticket.

I created a miles account for him and have been on hold forever to wait for someone to transfer my miles to his new account then he

should be able to pay cash with "his" miles I would have transfered. Don't know what they will gripe about next.

He tried the transfer at the branch but they said I had to sign a form