[Marjorie Macdonald]

May 12 2008 I asked aeroplan(recommended by American Express Membership rewards) to find me a flight from IAD to Stuttgart on June 15 2008. They were unable to find any flights on the 15th but had one seat available on June 17th. The points needed would be 60,000 from my American Express membership rewards account. I said ok and they insisted that I get on another phone and call Amex to transfer the points right away while they waited on the first phone. I did that, got the points transferred and then the aeroplan rep said she needed to get my credit card info because an additional $354.00 needed to be charged for taxes and fees. This had not been disclosed before I transferred the points and I told her I could not afford to pay $354 extra dollars. I also knew that the person I was traveling with paid $500 return for her airfare. I said I could not afford to travel and aeroplan said they would not return my points even though I cannot afford the trip. A supervisor suggested i use the 60,000 points that they unethically took from me, for merchandise. The supervisor called Ben also said that aeroplaln cannot calculate taxes and fees until the flight has been booked and the flight could not be booked until they had the points from my account. Now that is not true. Any airline can calculate fares,taxes etc and then ask for credit card info. I am also disappointed that American Express is partners with a company that does not follow fair business practices, and exposes its members to unethical companies like aeroplan. I would think Amex would protect its customers. I have now lost 60000 that took me years to accumulate.