United MileagePlus Miles Class Action Lawsuit
By Mike Holter
A disgruntled United Airlines flyer has filed a class action lawsuit against the airline for allegedly not giving MileagePlus members full credit for the number of miles they actually fly.
Plaintiff Hongbo Han alleges in the class action lawsuit that United breached its contract with millions of MileagePlus members by not awarding them the actual miles they flew as promised. Instead, “United awarded miles much closer to the direct distance (i.e., a straight line point-to-point irrespective of flight route) between the origin and the destination instead of actually flown miles for each flight,” he says in the class action lawsuit.
Han alleges in the complaint that the airline shaved off hundreds of miles from the mileage he accrued during a flight between Beijing and Virginia, and that this is not an isolated incidence.
He is seeking to represent all current and former MileagePlus members, as well as former members of Continental Airlines’ OnePass Program. The two airlines merged in October 2010.
The merger upset many long-time United customers who felt they lost their frequent-flyer privileges after the move. Plaintiff George Lagen sued United Airlines in June 2012 claiming the company breached its contract with certain MileagePlus Members by “immorally” gutting their lifetime benefits and bumping down their flying status. (See “United Airlines ‘Million Miler’ Class Action Lawsuit.”)
A United Airlines spokeswoman declined to comment on Han’s class action lawsuit but said, “We believe this lawsuit is without merit.”
The United Airlines MileagePlus Frequent Flyer Class Action Lawsuit case is Hongbo Han v. United Continental Holdings Inc., et al., Case No. 13-cv-2067, U.S. District Court, Illinois Northern District Court.
Updated March 25th, 2013
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