American Airlines

Credit Card Con: Man Fights Back After Bait-and-Switch

One Castaic man thought he was getting a deal when he purchased an American Airlines ticket, but instead, he says, he got ripped off.

Tyler Pearson says was looking for the $100 incentive that Citibank was offering when he applied for the American Airlines Citibank card last September. He needed to book a flight, so he figured he could save some cash.

Pearson was approved for the card, but told he wouldn't receive it for seven to 10 days. As he watched airfares rise, he asked for a temporary card number to book the flight. American Airlines said they'd accept a temporary number and even quoted him a price of $725.13 for the ticket, with the credit dropping that price to $625.13.

But, Pearson said, Citibank denied his request for a temporary card. So, anxious about the price of fare rising, he booked his flight using a different credit card.

Pearson said he still felt entitled to the $100 credit despite not having used his new card because the money was his incentive for applying for the card in the first place.

The NBC4 consumer investigative center sent Pearson's documentation - including screen grabs for what the cost of his ticket would have been - to Citibank, which informed the I-Team that they'd look into it. Within a week, a spokesperson for Citibank emailed back saying their customer service representatives resolved Pearson's problem.

He was awarded a $100 credit to his new card, meaning that for Pearson, this bit of turbulence is over.

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