Airline Class Action Lawsuit Targets Connecting Flight Fees

The airline industry may be facing potential class action lawsuit from consumers as Delta, United, and American Airlines have been rumored to charge passengers an additional fee for their connecting flights.  Many customers are outraged by this fee and are threatening legal action if this policy is not reversed, or if they are not reimbursed.

Airlines have been notorious in charging customers numerous service fees for years, but giving very minimal standard in terms of actually providing such service.  Customers often complain that the service takes too long and the food and drink are either stale or warm, respectively. They also complain about the additional baggage fees being charged by airlines that seem to increase year over year.

According to travel experts, the most common airline fees are:

• Making a reservation on the phone or in person (Fee: $5-$25)
• Re-banking frequent flyer miles (Fee: $50-100)
• Cashing in frequent flyer miles without sufficient advance notice (Fee: $0-100)
• Bringing a pet onboard in the cabin (Fee: $50-100)
• Checking luggage (Fee: $3-25; each way)
• Getting a refund when a fare goes down (Fee: $25-$200 or more)
• Flying standby on the same day of travel (Fee: $0-50)
• Paying for lap children (Fee: $10 to 10% of the adult fare (for international flights)).
• Getting a seat assignment (Fee: $5-$11 each way)

Overview of Airline Fees

As implied earlier, these are merely the most commonly encountered airline fees that customers routinely contend with.  Due to America’s economic state along with other possible complications, the cost of flying is not expected to go down any time soon, which forces flying to remain expensive.  However, if the cost of flying continues to rise through airline fees, customers will feel even less inclined to fly, as well as demand better service or compensation for these fees.

Additionally, some of these fees have been found to be so frivolous in nature, with some customers questioning if a number of the fees are even legal.  In particular, the issue of connecting flights in America has become somewhat of a concern and annoyance to passengers who are forced to take a connecting flight to their destination.  Unlike the mentioned fees above, the connecting flight is a situation the customer cannot avoid, and therefore, will have no choice but to agree to pay the service fee.

Customers have also stated that these fees are not explicitly listed on the airlines’ websites when their tickets are purchased, or are extremely difficult to find or understand when they agree to the terms and conditions of the transaction.  From this infraction, some customers allege that they were illegally coerced or forced into paying a fee that they did not initially agree to, or that this fee is unjust because the point of their airline ticket is to get them to their destination.  Whether or not a connecting flight is necessary for the customer’s travel, should be irrelevant in terms of the airlines’ obligation of service to the customer’s purchase.

The basic agreement of purchasing an airline ticket is that in exchange for paying for the ticket as well as the explicitly mentioned fees, the airline provides reasonable and safe transportation for the customer to reach their destination.  Legal experts argue that a fee requirement for a connecting flight is both unnecessary, and may possibly impose additional conditions between the customer and airline.

Join a Free Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you booked a domestic flight online for a flight that had a connecting city, you may have paid more than you should have for your ticket.  You may qualify to join a Airline Fees, Connecting City Charges, Class Action Lawsuit Investigation and pursue compensation for your damages.  Consumer fraud lawyers are investigating the pricing practices of certain airlines, including Delta, United and American. Certain consumers may have been charged too much when they booked flights that involved connecting cities from the airlines’ websites.