$25 credit card refund for foreign travel

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In past weeks official looking envelopes have been appearing in people’s mailboxes across the country, and some people aren’t quite sure whether or not to take them at face value. The envelopes claim to be coming from the “Settlement Administrator” and if you are a quaifying credit card customer, you could be receiving $25 in refunds for credit card fees paid during foreign travel between Feb. 1, 1996, and Nov. 8, 2006.

The envelopes that people are receiving are in fact legitimate, and if you qualify you could receive a refund as well. Refunds, if you had limited travel during the above dates are $25. If you had more travel more documentation is needed for larger refunds.

So how do you make sure you don’t get cheated or scammed by someone taking advantage of this class settlement? The article states that you can safeguard yourself by:

Ignoring e-mails regarding the settlement. These will almost certainly be scams.
Checking the return mailing address on your paper packet, which should be Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 290, Philadelphia, PA 19105-0290.
Ensuring that if you file a claim online, your browser address window reads “https” (indicating the data will be encrypted) before you submit any form with your name, Social Security number or credit card information.

Millions of people are expected to respond to the mailings, so it’s important to take advantage of this while there are still funds available.

There are three ways to file a claim:

The easiest is a $25 no-questions-asked refund, recommended for those with limited travel outside the U.S. between Feb. 1, 1996, and Nov. 8, 2006. If you have the ID number, you will not need to provide any personal information, either by mail or Internet.
Others can seek larger refunds by estimating the number of days of foreign travel during the period; the settlement administrator will calculate the refund. If you have the ID number, you will not need to provide any personal information, either by mail or Internet.
Lastly, those with extensive purchases can provide actual transaction estimates for each year that can be verified by the card issuers. This option requires the consumer to provide card numbers.

Berger & Montague, a Philadelphia law firm that handled the case, has created a Web site with details of who is eligible for a payment and how to file a claim. There also is a toll-free number, 1-800-945-9890, but he cautioned that it has been experiencing a large volume of calls.

If you traveled abroad during those years, jump on this now!

LINKS:
Settlement Website
MSNMoney Article

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