This morning I received an email from a company called Reservation Rewards stating that they were going to bill my membership fee to my AMEX and they had the last four digits of my account. This is not a program I signed up for so I called AMEX. They checked my account and told me that it was initiated through Orbitz and that this was a common problem. Apparently (probably buried deep in a disclaimer) they are able to share your information with this company.

AMEX told me that they are working to remedy the situation. So in the meantime, if you purchase anything through Orbitz (I bought an airline ticket to Spain through them last month) you may be authorizing them to share your credit card information with other companies.

And yet another reason I never actually book a flight through Orbitz!


(I use it to search, then I purchase on the chosen airline's website.)

I've never booked through them either and never will again. Unfortunately I had to rebook my daughter's flight to Spain because Continental canceled a route. It was so close to the departure time that the cost was ridiculous and Orbitz was $300 less than anyone. You get what you pay for.

You have to be very careful on many websites that you don't inadvertently sign up for "free" things/"trial" programs/discount offers that actually process the credit card number you just used for a transaction and will be automatically billed on a monthly basis unless you cancel within a certain period of time.

I never sign up for the free trials that pop up. AMEX said Orbitz just outright shares the info. Apparently the rewards company is legit, but I don't pay for rewards or the free trials that try to entice you into doing so.

I posted on your other thread - you likely did sign up for something, probably inadvertently. I counted back and think I've used Orbitz 6 times in 5 years the most recent for a flight to Hong Kong this past March and have never had any unexpected fees. I never click to get the $10 credit for instance, since that enrolls you in another program.

Still a nasty way to do business.

I don't see it as particularly nasty. But I can see how folks are lured into it. The reason I haven't clicked on the $10 bonus is because I read the disclaimer and it was obvious I'd face a "membership" charge.

Just like all the mail I get from my credit cards, credit union, department stores - "special deal - free MP3 player - just pay the shipping/handling". But the item isn't worth what they charge for shipping/handling.

sounds similar to hawaiian air. they pulled the same crap, during ckout, ins fee was checked. if you didn't uncheck it, you were charged. they changed the website now with "no thanks" already checked, after an email was circulated and everyone complained about it.

I disagree Janis, it is a nasty way to do business which is why AMEX is trying to put an end to it.

Jayne11159 - that is fine - but then there are about 1000+ other companies they also need to go after since lots of them have similar policies.

It is just very important for the buyer to pay attention.

They don't actually "share," they "sell" information.

No company can charge your credit card for something you yourself did not initiate. Just because you bought a plane ticket from Orbitz and they share your info with other companies doesn't mean that company has the right to charge you some membership fee, unless you didn't realize you'd agreed to it. It's quite easy to check a box here or there that you didn't mean to, in the haste to check out.

The other day I tried to renew my Skype account with my Visa. For whatever the reason, a hard step in the checkout process seemed to be signing up for some purchase protection plan. You had to do "next" to get past it, then cancel - and then your purchase would actually be completed. I found it really annoying (I blame eBay, the owner of Skype, for their silly checkout process). I always use Google Checkout if that's ever an option; they seem completely free of these silly gimmicks.