Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.
Helping friends and family get Big Travel with Small Money is one of my favorite things about our hobby.
But what if your friend or family member doesn’t feel comfortable dealing with credit card companies for things like retention offers and denied applications.
You can help them by communicating with banks on their behalf, to be sure they don’t miss out on the best deals!
I’ll show you 4 ways you can handle dealing with credit card companies on behalf of your friend, partner, or family member, who dislikes that part of the hobby.
Help Your Loved Ones In the Miles & Points Hobby
1. Use Secure Messaging
One of the easiest ways to contact a credit card company is through secure messaging. When you’re signed-in to an account, you’ll be able to find an option to send a message to the bank. It’s basically like sending an email.
Million Mile Secrets team member Joseph said he’s handled lots of credit card matters through the internet for family members. He’s used secure messaging with Chase and Citi for issues like referral points not tracking and difficulties with promotional offers.
And another friend has been able to cancel a Barclaycard through a secure message.
2. Use Online Chat
Citi and American Express both offer online chat. And as long as you’re signed-in under your friend or family member’s account (with their permission of course!), you can chat with a customer service representative about their issue.
But sometimes, online chat representatives are not authorized to do everything a phone representative might be able to do.
3. Become Authorized to Speak on Their Behalf
Folks on Reddit have reported success in getting their partner or family member to authorize them to speak on their behalf.
One commenter called Chase after his wife was denied for the Ink Plus card. He told the phone representative his wife would prefer he handle the call, and the Chase representative just asked that his wife verify her identity. It was that simple!
Just remember, if the customer service agent you speak to first can’t or won’t help you, politely hang up and call back again. 😉
Note: It’s NOT a good idea to pretend you’re the family member. Because it’s illegal and the bank may flag the account for fraud. So just have your friend or family member call in to give you authorization, then hand the phone to you!
4. Utilize 3-Way Calling
Million Mile Secrets team member Keith said he’s set up a conference call with his mom and her credit card company, and was able to get her bonus points through a retention offer. That’s pretty cool!
He also called Chase’s reconsideration line with a friend on a 3-way call. And although she was denied for the Ink Plus card at first, Keith was able to convince the Chase representative to look over her application again. And in the end, she was approved!
@Mike – I’d recommend saying, “Hi, my name is Mike and I’m calling on behalf of so-and-so.” Or if the bank insists on speaking to the card holder, that person can come on the phone to say, “I authorize Mike to speak for me” and then you take over the call. Then the bank knows who their speaking with! 🙂
@Adam – Glad to hear you found the post helpful! And happy to hear they reconsidered your wife’s application!
Wow, this is brilliant! After I was denied without consideration for the CSR (7/24) and my wife was pending and then denied we just about gave up. She’s an AU on most of my accounts and only has one in her name (Freedom Unlimited.) We called recon twice and was told without much further explanation that due to too many cards open in the last 2 years she was not approved. HOWEVER, we just tried the Secure Message route and they reconsidered! We explained that only one account was in her name and that we desired to shift credit from our Freedom Unlimited to the CSR. Thanks so much for the suggestion!
@ Mike — If you pretend to be someone you’re not (usually on a recorded line) then it is fraud. Permission from the person you’re impersonating doesn’t matter. Not a very prudent thing to do.
@Mike-the bank won’t agree with you if they out–you are lying to them!
Great article Daraius! I always call in an as the person I’m helping for these types of calls. It’s not fraud if the person asks you and authorizes you to call in and take care of the matter on their behalf.