AAA Faces $5M Hotel Booking Fees Class Action Lawsuit

The American Automobile Association (AAA) faces a potential $5 million breach of contract class action lawsuit over allegations that the auto club overcharges members by not disclosing fees for using their online hotel booking service.

Lead plaintiffs Iris and Stanley Rothstein of Florida are AAA members through a regional club known as Auto Club South. The Rothsteins claim that based on the AAA membership materials, they were led to believe that one of the primary benefits of being a AAA member was to receive discounted prices on hotel bookings and rental car services.

According to the AAA hotel booking fees class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs used AAA.com to make hotel reservations for a 2014 trip and prepaid for three different hotel stays. However, when Mrs. Rothstein asked the desk attendant at their first hotel what the rate would have been without booking through AAA.com, the AAA class action lawsuit claims that the attendant informed the couple that they would have paid less had they booked directly through the hotel.

The attendant showed the plaintiffs an itemized statement that showed the proper charge for the couple’s stay would have been $940.45 as opposed to the AAA.com price of $1,118.88, the AAA class action lawsuit alleges. The Rothsteins claim that they were informed they had overpaid at the other two hotels as well. In total, the plaintiffs allege that by pre-paying through AAA.com they were overcharged $335 due to fees that they were unaware of.

The AAA undisclosed fees class action lawsuit states that when the couple searched under the Frequently Asked Questions link on AAA.com, the website informed them that no fees were charged for booking reservations online. The Rothsteins claim that the wording on the website confirmed their understanding that AAA and Auto Club South never informed members that they would be charged fees. In fact, the plaintiffs allege they were misled into believing that having a AAA and Auto Club South membership “promised that members would receive discounted rates for hotel bookings.”

According to the AAA class action lawsuit, Mrs. Rothstein called an American Automobile Association representative who allegedly informed her that “AAA earned money from the hidden fees charged to its members” and they would not be issuing a refund to the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs are suing AAA for breach of contract and unjust enrichment claiming that AAA along with Auto Club South knowingly accepted and retained unauthorized and undisclosed fees for hotel bookings through AAA.com.

If approved, the AAA hotel booking class action lawsuit would be open to Class Members who were a part of AAA (or one of its regional clubs) and who booked hotel reservations through AAA.com within the last five years.

The plaintiffs have also requested a subclass which would be open to all Class Members who were members of Auto Club South and who booked hotel reservations through AAA.com within the last five years.

The plaintiffs are represented by Jayne Arnold Goldstein of Pomerantz LLP and Noah Axler of Donovan Axler LLC.

The AAA Hotel Booking Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Rothstein, et al. v. Auto Club South, et al., Case No. 9:15-cv-81249 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: On April 17, 2019, AAA opposed Class certification in a hidden fees class action, arguing that the proposed Class is too varied.