The Airline in question is a very prominent Indian Airline that recently began service to the U.S.
After talking to three different agents and customizing my itinerary and then confirming it again, I was ready to make the payment for my trip.

Then I was told that I would be transfered to their "IVR" system and be put on conference. A minute later the agent asks me for my authorization to record the call from that point onwards. I reply "no", because I will be punching in my credit card information. They then hang up without a word. This happened twice.

Why would an Airline need to record my conversation for "quality assurance", after the bulk of the conversation has finished and all that's left is for me to pass on my credit card information? I had a pretty decent reputation of this airline, until they hung up on me twice when I denied authorization, even without an apology, goodbye or thank you for calling xxx.

Does this happen with other airlines? Is this something to be concerned about?

[Edited 2008-06-11 11:35:59]

the recording is not uncommon on telephone credit card orders, the credit card companies want the recordings to use if someone disputes the charge. I have dealt with telephone use of credit cards in a bunch of different industries, many require that the agent taking the order transfer the call to a QA screener to verify the order info and CC details before they actually complete the order

I used to take cards over the phone for my airline, and never knowingly was I recorded doing this for the credit card companys.

Very strange practice.

I don't get it. Are you somehow less safe if the CC#s are recorded? How do you know that the tape is not secured as well as the electronic storage that holds the CC#s entered into the airline's (or outsourced vendor's) data systems?

Electronic data gets stolen every day.

This begs the question -- to what country do Indian airlines outsource their call centers?

Poland and former Soviet-bloc eastern european countries along with the Philippines are becoming the newest outsourcing call center "hot spots". It has become increasingly more difficult to staff call center in places like Bangalore India. The local Indian labor pool no longer sees working in a call center as an attractive proposition which leads to lower quality new hires, these candidates want to be paid much more money than the companies were willing to pay a few years ago. There are still some utility infrastructure issues (electricity, telecommunication, etc) to be resolved. Finally, customers need to be aware that customer service centers overseas (and the people that staff these centers) are not subject to US laws regarding client confidentiality or privacy.

I've spent 20 years in the customer service call center business - as a representative, manager, and as a corporate trainer. It's really best to ask to speak with a stateside representative when dealing with things that impact medical privacy or maintaining the confidentiality of your identity IMHO.