Ticket Payment

Technically, the only restrictions on an American Express gift card are for recurring charges, at ATMs, on cruise lines and at casinos.  There could be an issue with car rental because the charge is not for a fixed fee but actually for an indeterminant amount (gas, mileage and other variables) although you can reserve a car with this card.

Virgin Atlantic has a list of cards accepted. The problem is that the American Express gift card is not considered either a debit or a credit card. This may be where you are running into a problem.

You can read about the accepted cards but again, do not confuse an American Express credit card with an AmEx gift card.

http://virginatlantic.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/416/kw/cards%20accepted

or you can contact them: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/customerrelations/contact_us/index.jsp

There should not be an issue with use for airline ticket purchase on many airlines. If you do have a problem, call 1-877-297-4438 for help.

Now, there could be a problem if the card has not been activated.

1. An ecard must be activated by using the instructions which came with it in the email
2. A hard card might be inactive for the first 4 hours after the first purchase - depending upon how soon the purchase is made.

If there is an insufficient balance on the card to cover the cost of the tickets, the airline might not accept a split charge - also known as a Split Tender Transaction - could that have been the problem you incurred?

Do make sure that you have the card number and the CID in a safe place so that if the card is lost or stolen you can report it using the phone number above.

One issue with the card is that there is no dispute of charges or stopped payment provision.  That could present a problem with refundable airline tickets.