Air Asia Refusing Chase And Bank Of America Credit Cards As Of Feb 2009

[Katmanpu]

Today I attempted to book a ticket on Air Asia. I have booked a dozen or so flights with them over the past year easliy and without any problems. I noticed a new entry on the payment page this time though. They are asking for the issuing bank name and the country the card is from.

Attempted to use 2 different cards, all with lots of available balance (and verified such with the banks). All were declined. I tried several differnt names for the card issuers, i.e. Chase, JP Morgan Chase, JP Morgan Chase & Co. and also another with Bank Of America, Bank of America NA, Bank of America National Association - but alas, none of these worked.

I called the UK telephone number for Air Asia and put the voice hold on speaker. A few minutes later a call center assistant came on line and I described the issue. He said that Air Asia no longer has Bank of America or Chase as approved card merchants for online bookings so try another one.

I let him know that Chase and BoA are 2 of the largest card issuers and were they planning to do anything about this? He said politely that it has been a problem since February 2009 and suggested I use a US based CitiBank card as this will definitely work.

After I ended the call I headed back to the Air Asia online booking site and tried with 2 different Citibank cards. Nada... booking didn't go thru.

I will try again tomorrow after exiting from my browser (could be a cookie reading issue).

Anyone else had similar problems on Air Asia online bookings.

It is now 1:12 pm (-9 GMT) where I am at.

Katmanpu

[Jimjim]

That's weird. Even though it's a Chase card it still uses Visa, right? It's probably a case of fake credit cards from these issuers being used a lot.

Edited November 12, 2009 by Jimjim

[donx]

I used a Chase bank card to book tickets in May 2009 so I don't think the company representative was correct. I do remember being refused when I tried to use my Capital One card, but I was told that was because my bank was refusing the transaction. This turned out to be the case since I hadn't used that card in a while. I recommend you call your bank and ask if they are the ones that blocked the transaction.

[rfukata]

I think there could be a number of reasons.

I've tried my US visa card (before) and the transaction was denied due in part of

a security system password/ID check from Visa.

Also Visa and other credit cards (US) have been changing their contract of fee's, implementing new rules, and most obviously raising

interest points and membership fees.

With all these new measures, I am sure US Visa cards has increased their fees for businesses which affected AirAsia's decision to cancel the usage of US Visa cards. (US fees are most likely higher than of other countries)

[bellagrego]

It just is not so my friend. Booked in Aug,and Sept using Chase online direct. There are issues with some cards in some areas due to the fact that there is no chip in these cards, just magnetic reader strips. In Indonesia, microchips are required, chase does not use them. The HSBC works fine as the brits are up to date.

Carry Chase, HSBC, and Bangkok Bank to cover all the bs issues.

bella

[whatchamacallit]

I have the same problem... I called them and apparently they reject almost all credit cards issued by US banks. BUT I was able to use my AMEX card :-)... strange.........

[whatchamacallit]

I think there could be a number of reasons.

I've tried my US visa card (before) and the transaction was denied due in part of

a security system password/ID check from Visa.

Also Visa and other credit cards (US) have been changing their contract of fee's, implementing new rules, and most obviously raising

interest points and membership fees.

With all these new measures, I am sure US Visa cards has increased their fees for businesses which affected AirAsia's decision to cancel the usage of US Visa cards. (US fees are most likely higher than of other countries)

It may have something to do with US BANKs will side with the customer almost all the time should there be a dispute. When I called them about not being able to use my visa and MC cards - they asked me if these cards were issued by US BANK - I said YES.

[Tokay]

For reasons I've yet to figure out, I have NEVER been able to use my Chase card with Air Asia. Been trying for years, never worked once. Neither party knows why.

[scorecard]

I think there could be a number of reasons.

I've tried my US visa card (before) and the transaction was denied due in part of

a security system password/ID check from Visa.

Also Visa and other credit cards (US) have been changing their contract of fee's, implementing new rules, and most obviously raising

interest points and membership fees.

With all these new measures, I am sure US Visa cards has increased their fees for businesses which affected AirAsia's decision to cancel the usage of US Visa cards. (US fees are most likely higher than of other countries)

It may have something to do with US BANKs will side with the customer almost all the time should there be a dispute. When I called them about not being able to use my visa and MC cards - they asked me if these cards were issued by US BANK - I said YES.

Also remeber that AirAsia doesn't necessarily make the rules about acceptance/non-acceptance of different flavor credit cards. Their bankers make these decisions.

Further, I recently went to an AirAsia counter sales office . A staff member was explaining to another passenger that AirAsias' bankers are not at all happy with the fact that some overseas banks automatically add a 'cross-border' charge as the transaction is being processed. No warning in advance, it gets added whether the customer likes it or not.

The AirAsia lady mentioned that she's been abused several times for this but they are not involved in any way and have no control whatever over these automatic additional charges imposed by some banks. She was adamant that AirAsia gets no 'cut' whatever of the additional charges.

Perhaps AirAsia's own bankers are getting very choosy about what cards they will accept.

[mauiguy90]

It just is not so my friend. Booked in Aug,and Sept using Chase online direct. There are issues with some cards in some areas due to the fact that there is no chip in these cards, just magnetic reader strips. In Indonesia, microchips are required, chase does not use them. The HSBC works fine as the brits are up to date.

Carry Chase, HSBC, and Bangkok Bank to cover all the bs issues.

bella

Same here! Just used my Chase Card for booking a flight 2 days ago. No problem with using the card--however, big problem with using the congested website.

[sbk]

I tried my Chase card, rejected three times and my Citibank card, rejected twice. I assumed it had something to do with the faulty billing address input.

[siam2007]

I tried my Chase card, rejected three times and my Citibank card, rejected twice. I assumed it had something to do with the faulty billing address input.

yes this is probably part of the problem !

I have booked almost 100 flights on AirAsia, but then when they "adjusted/upgraded" their booking system that night around May 2009, I already knew what to expect. and YES, from that moment on they did not accept any of my 4 credit cards (Visa and MC two of them each) anymore. Even 2 of them did have a CHIP, not only a magnet stripe.

the only thing that works is if you have a MC with "secure code", but in my home country in Europe only 3 or 4 out of hundred banks to offer such a system. that's probably because credit card fraud in Western countries is still not as ripe as in Asia, so the banks see little need to make this additional investment quickly. Eventually, they will have to, but that can take many years until it's widespread over there.....

with the SECURE CODE, I can make bookings with all Asian Budget Airlines.

Surprisingly, the big carriers such as Thai, Malaysian, Lufthansa (who operate BKK - KUL and BKK - HCMC) plus Jetstar still happily accept all my cards with no problem.

But NONE of the "Budget"-Airline does: AirAsia, Tiger, CEB, not to mention any Indonesian carrier.....

Edited November 13, 2009 by siam2007

[sbk]

My Visa is a verified by Visa card and my Citibank a secure code mastercard.

I booked with bkk air instead.

[whatchamacallit]

Can't use my Visa or MC issued by US Banks.... BUT I just charged a total of 2000 baht for 2 FREE round trip tickets from BKK to Yangoon Depart June 13 - Return June 19 using my AMEX card and it was accepted :-).

Here is the breakdown of fees:

2 x 700 baht BKK airport tax............................ 1,400 baht

2 x 100 baht 15kg regular check in luggage........ 200 baht

2 x 100 baht preassigned seats......................... 200 baht

2 x 100 baht convenient fee (Whatever it is)...... 200 baht

Total 2000 baht.

[dave111223]

Airasia online booking is a piece of crap, i've tried a lot of cards in the past and they always get declined. And they refuse to give you the online price when you call them up to book over the phone...maybe that's their plan. Sucker you in with cheap online prices, decline your card and then stick it to you over the phone.

[siam2007]

Can't use my Visa or MC issued by US Banks.... BUT I just charged a total of 2000 baht for 2 FREE round trip tickets from BKK to Yangoon Depart June 13 - Return June 19 using my AMEX card and it was accepted :-).

Here is the breakdown of fees:

2 x 700 baht BKK airport tax............................ 1,400 baht

2 x 100 baht 15kg regular check in luggage........ 200 baht

2 x 100 baht preassigned seats......................... 200 baht

2 x 100 baht convenient fee (Whatever it is)...... 200 baht

Total 2000 baht.

this "convenience fee" is in fact the credit card fee which ALL other budget airlines of the world have introduced long time ago, and the new AirAsia fee is still the cheapest. In Europe, u sometimes pay 7 € when using ur card (and u HAVE TO to make a payment) to make a booking with a no-frills airline....

Edited November 13, 2009 by siam2007

[jimky]

over the past 3 months I've booked around a 4 or 5 Air Asia flights online using a Chase Mastercard

[ballzafire]

For reasons I've yet to figure out, I have NEVER been able to use my Chase card with Air Asia. Been trying for years, never worked once. Neither party knows why.

I found out it's an int'l security protocol code glitch. One of my banks researched it and told me that.

[Katmanpu]

Same thing happened to me. See my thread:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Air-Asia-Cre...bl-t273714.html

Confirmed by my bank (another major US bank) that Air Asia was rejecting the credit card before even attempting to charge it. The only way I was able to book online was to use my debit/ATM card (same bank). The money is taken from your checking account immediately if you do this, probably the preferred method for Air Asia.

So I tried this (using a debit card keyed to checking acct) and tried 2 different issuers debit cards. Input my debit card info at Air Aisa's payment screen, then got transfrerred to the verified by Visa security screen, input my password and waited. This was the furthest I had gotten since yesterday with 3 US based Visa cards and 2 Mastercards (Chase, Bank of America and Citibank).

Both debit cards were then declined by Air Asia. One of these was a Visa debit from a credit union. The verified for visa site listed both attempts in their transaction record so it is defintely pinging back to Visa. The denials are from the Air Asia side for sure.

Attempted to book Air Asia flights for Dec 2009; attempts were on Nov 12 and 13, 2009.

My days with Air Asia may be over. I have emailed them with the problem, but don't expect miracles. From postings on other sites it also seems that Air Asia's payment software or bankers requirements are causing others with US based cards the same problems too

If anyone has current info please post.

Katmanpu

[khunjake]

If you have Kasikorn, just use the K-BANK Visa Webcard for AA online bookings, never gets rejected..

[threelegcowboy]

The traffic from this last sale made it impossible to book for days.

To book by credit card during the best of times can be tricky and I have had easy and difficult times. Sometimes entering the same info three times before the tranaction goes through. I have dozens of recent online bookings. My booking today was very easy.

Here is what I think I know about booking with Airasia online:

The error codes when the transaction fails is misleding. Sometimes incorrect

Internet traffic - slow and the transaction times out

int'l security protocol code at your bank in states is not compatable

int'l security protocol code at internet cafe (or your IP address) is not compatable

int'l security protocol code at Airasia is not compatable with your bank

my bank in states does backup computer work late night there and day time here, transaction fails

Phone number on form requires international number with country code etc

Seats can be selling rapidly and your seat can be sold right out from under you. Next attempt it will be higher priced.

What do you expect from a budget airline. They are selling many tickets. Just find a way and enjoy these low fares.

Helps to be a member and alot of info fills in automaticly.

[sbk]

My attempt was before the sale. The only error message I received was my card was denied. No time out as my internet was pretty good. I called my banks, both cards were good. I tried both cards several times. I am a member. Gave up and went to bkk air.

[MattFS218]

both my Capital One Visa and Mastercard US-based were rejected. Before my Visa had worked, but my MC not.

The only card that worked was my Bangkok Bank Debit card which is enrolled in Verified by Visa. You need to actually sign-up and set your password to use Verified by Visa or it will not work. However Verified by Visa and Secure Code are not widely used in the states, so it's near impossible to get them enrolled.

But hey, free tickets I can't complain.

--matt

[mauiguy90]

I tried my Chase card, rejected three times and my Citibank card, rejected twice. I assumed it had something to do with the faulty billing address input.

In the address area, under "state", did you input "Other-International" ? I found that the state information must be completed even though almost all of the listing areas are in Malaysia. Have also been declined because my credit card company didn't authorize international transactions.

Edited November 14, 2009 by mauiguy90

[ryladie99]

That's weird. Even though it's a Chase card it still uses Visa, right? It's probably a case of fake credit cards from these issuers being used a lot.

Thanks so much for posting. Right now Bank of America will charge fee even a customer pay the credit card bill in full. It is a new term at this point. I have been told from many friends that they will run away from B of A. It is not fair for consummer??

Chase bank I was told that it cracks down the theft idenities and I hope the Airline knows what to do with the clients?? Chases and B of A are the most big banks at this time...my take and opinion.