United Frequent Flyer Program Class Action Lawsuit Gets Dismissed

New Jersey plaintiffs who argued that rewards that required variable points depending on the customer had a federal judge dismiss their United frequent flyer program class action lawsuit due to a lack of standing.

The majority of the order focused on U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton’s reading of the Airline Deregulation Act and subsequent Supreme Court decisions. The ADA gives a number of protections to air carriers, but the most relevant is that breach of contract and other civil claims may not be adjudicated by state law if they are more stringent than federal statutes.

According to the United frequent flyer class action lawsuit, a man and a woman were planning on using the man’s United MileagePlus miles to book a hotel room but found that it would require 40,750 while he had several thousand less. The woman attempted to do the same but found that the quote had jumped to 44,750 miles. Soon after, they filed the class action lawsuit. Where the parties differed is in the agreement where it stated that the frequent flyer program would list rooms and other rewards at a “set published amount.”

Applying New Jersey contract law requiring words “be given their plain and ordinary meaning,” the word “set” only means that the airline was the one that would name the rates, not that they were set in stone. Judge Wigenton also noted other clauses in the agreement noting that “certain members may receive preferential pricing,” and United substantiated that, arguing that the man received a lower quote for the hotel room because he had a credit card with the company.

The Airline Deregulation Act led her to nix other claims in the United class action lawsuit because it preempts them when they seek “to enlarge the contractual obligation that the parties adopt,” including the New Jersey Consumer Fairness Act, among others. Other case law she cited included American Airlines Inc. v. Wolens, which had “carved out an exception to ADA preemption for contract claims against airlines such as those involving frequent flyer programs,” but noted that the contract itself was not breached.

The plaintiffs are represented by class action lawyers Gary S. Graifman and Michael L. Braunstein of Kantrowitz Goldhamer & Graifman PC, and Alvin C. Gordon and Ava Gordon of The Gordon Law Firm of New York LLP.

The United Frequent Flyer Program Class Action Lawsuit is Gordon, et al. v. United Continental Holdings Inc., et al., Case No. 13-cv-05967, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.