A longtime OMAAT reader shared a story with me regarding something that happened on a recent AirAsia flight, where he was asked for his passport after a strange credit card incident, where the lead flight attendant reportedly looked at his credit card for an exceedingly long time. He has asked for my take — I actually don’t have a good answer, so I’d like to open this up to y’all.
After hitting our cruising altitude on our flight to Jakarta, I had my meals already preordered but wanted to buy a Sprite. I knew they only accepted credit card so handed over my JP, and the purser on the flight turned it over and started examining the back for a full minute. I say JP, as all the card numbers are on the back. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be concerned, but then it was contactless so I was a tad confused.
After it was somehow declined for whatever reason, not that it mattered anymore as I just wanted my card back, I asked what took so long. They said they were checking to see if it’s a credit or debit card, and that she was making coffee (which she wasn’t, so it got me even more confused). I told her she wasn’t and said she should review the cameras. Hmm, okay. I mentioned that I was concerned they were writing card numbers down as it happened to a friend of mine on AirAsia and wanted to write a report, just to have it noted in the off chance they were.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
