Delta Airlines and the credit card you paid your ticket with

There is a discussion of it here. There have been instances of this documented in the press. If you check in online then it should be irrelevant as nowhere has there been any documentation of you need to scan your card. In any event sanity says it should be unenforceable on your return flight where they see you have already flown.

It is a thing.

https://www.delta.com/sitesearch?searchTerm=Check%20in

To safeguard against credit/debit card fraud, the purchaser may have
to show us the credit/debit card along with a valid photo ID. The time
varies based on the billing address of the credit/debit card or the
country of travel. If the purchaser is not traveling, they can show us
their credit/debit card and ID at an airport ticket counter or another
ticket office location, whichever is most convenient.

Interesting article here https://viewfromthewing.com/its-2025-and-delta-is-still-stranding-passengers-outside-the-country-with-a-1990s-credit-card-rule/#:~:text=If%20you%27re%20going%20to,book%20direct%20%E2%80%93%20use%20an%20agency.

It says that if Delta did that in Europe and you cohort produce it, you'd still be eligible for compensation.

I fairly often buy tickets for adult daughters and most often they are flying without me. So, I'm supposed to drive to my airport and show them the credit card??

It is one of the requirements imposed at purchase, though is rarely asked for, but obviously is once in a while. Just out of good practice, whether it is an airline ticket, a hotel reservation paid ahead, rental car reserved with a card, even other advance purchases, you should have the card you used with you.

Is it an absolute and you will be stuck? no, just be potentially prepared to jump through a few more hoops to prove that you are (or a spouse) is the same person that used a credit card to buy the ticket.

Alternatives might be if you have that card loaded to your phone wallet, have access to the app for the card and can show the charge, etc. Most of the time, if the name on the ticket matches the name on the card, no questions are asked.

Don't spend any time your last days in Europe worrying about it, just enjoy.

And it’s not stories it’s one story that has made taken on a life of its own on social media. I mean, I’ve seen the same story about seven different places and it’s pretty sure from the story it’s the exact same couple and there must’ve been something that we probably haven’t seen because someone who’s flown out of LHR on Delta Very recently this was not happening

It’s actually been a practice for decades, but since social media just heard about it this week it’s brand new and exciting

I added to the last thread on this and will add here - Delta did this to us at SeaTac a few years ago.

We had bought the tickets with my partner’s credit card and he was present so it was fine.

But I thought it was weird.

Since then, if I think I might be traveling alone, I buy my ticket with my own card to avoid the issue.

Delta says it’s a fraud protection control. I say it’s ridiculous.