paying for airplane tickets with a “psuedo” credit-card?

Alex L.: paying for airplane tickets with a “psuedo” credit-card?
i heard that if you don’t have a credit card (i don’t want one – too much of a hassle these days), or if you don’t have a debit card (ditto), you can pay with cash – BUT, i also heard that paying with cash is rude, an inconvience to check-in, and raises security concerns………
then i heard about a card where you can “load” up your money on that card – specifically an american express gift card and use that as your “credit card” – is that legal? can you do that? are there any other of these loadable cards out there? what happens if i try to input the number in the card online – will i be stopped because its not a credit card? what do you think about it?

Answers and Views:

Answer by alp
Several banks have loadable debit cards. My friend gets them for her children every Christmas. I don’t have a CC and I use my debit card to purchase airline tickets and hotel rooms all the time. As long as it has a CC logo on it you are fine.

Answer by swimminginspam
I was in the same boat with not having a credit card. I don’t have one and don’t want one.
How about using your check card? They accept those with no problem.

As for the AMEX gift cards, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use one. Will the airlines be suspicious of you for using that as opposed to a card linked to a standing account? That could be another issue entirely in this post-9/11 era.

I’d stick with a check card, if it’s at all possible.

Answer by les_18artist
I think you’re referring to DEBIT CARDS if i’m not mistaken?? We’ll i’m working for 3 years for an online travel agency and here is my advice to you.

If you’re using a debit card some of them goes through as long as the issuing bank allows it to be used online. But we’ve been receiving a lot of error which debits the amount out of your card but you don’t have any purchase yet. Those hold amount will just fall off. So eventually, we require you to use a valid credit card. if you don’t have one, you can pay it using cash. Don’t worry, you’ll not experience any inconvenience as most of the airlines nowadays are issuing e-tkt even if you pay in cash.

Answer by I_hope_I_know
Check out the Visa Reloadable Prepaid card…you can make purchases and pay bills anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted – including retail stores, online merchants, and by phone.

FYI: If not used, AMEX, MasterCard and Visa Gift Cards charge a monthly service charge after 6 months.

Answer by Just a friend.
It’s really nothing more than a form of debit card. Visa Buxx is one of the most common, you load the card and use it as a credit/debit card. I use that card with my kids and have found it very useful. However there are places that will treat it for what it is a debit card, instead of a credit card. In those cases it isn’t accepted as some places will not take debit cards. Still the main problem is the same with all debit card, merchants will restrict around 150% of the purchase price until they get their money. This is common and goes unnoticed with credit cards since they have higher limits. If you load $ 300 on the card, and check into a hotel costing $ 100 per night for 2 nights. The hotel will place a hold on $ 300 until they get their money, which sometimes will take a couple of days. This leaves you without access to that extra $ 100. In addition, the card will get rejected if their isn’t enough money loaded to begin with.