American Airlines Baggage Fees Breach Contracts With Flyers, Class Action Lawsuit Claims

American Airlines continues to charge baggage fees, breaching its contract with customers, a class action lawsuit alleges.

American Airlines promises to waive baggage fees for certain tiers of customers, the class action lawsuit contends, including American Airlines frequent flyers, first or business class ticket holders and owners of American Airlines credit cards.

“Yet, AA systematically required these passengers to pay to check bags and thus breached its contract with affected passengers,” the American Airlines class action lawsuit states.

In the American Airlines baggage fees class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs describe booking flights with promises of no baggage fees only to end up paying every time. 

“Knowing that waiving baggage fees would entice fliers, AA offered free checked bags to certain customers,” the class action lawsuit claims. 

“Including customers who flew frequently in AA’s loyalty program AAdvantage, customers who purchased first or business class tickets, and customers who held AA’s branded credit cards.”

Plaintiffs William and Katherine Cleary say they purchased a roundtrip ticket to Dallas through the American Airlines website, AA.com, in 2017. In the emailed confirmation, “they were notified they could check bags for free,” the couple said. However, they ended up paying for each bag. 

Another plaintiff, Judy Crosson, was notified by American Airlines that she was considered a “Gold Status” member in 2017. She too, received a confirmation email baggage fees would be waived. The opposite was true after checking in for a trip in 2018, according to the class action lawsuit, when she was told she’d have to pay.  

The class action lawsuit elaborates how American Airlines breaches their contract on baggage fees when booking online. 

When a traveler books a ticket through the American Airlines website, a confirmation is delivered through a feature called the “AA Your Trip Summary.” 

This summary screen states passengers with first and business class tickets, both internationally and domestic, can check up to three of their bags for free, according to the American Airlines class action lawsuit. 

“Passengers who received this confirmation relied on it and brought bags to check,” the class action lawsuit claims. 

The baggage fees class action lawsuit further describes how American Airlines breaches promises with its credit card customers as well. 

“Our AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard is another great way to earn miles with everyday purchases, and enjoy benefits such as your first checked bag free,” is a promotional message passengers onboard American Airlines flights can hear, according to the class action lawsuit.

In 2014, plaintiff Filippo Ferrigni says he was solicited for an American Airlines credit card mid-flight. He took the flight attendants offer and filled out an application while onboard, according to the class action lawsuit. Later, he was required to pay baggage fees for a flight to a Caribbean island. 

That’s when “an AA employee told him that his credit card waived baggage fees only [occurred] on domestic travel,” according to the class action lawsuit. He “reluctantly” ended up paying baggage fees for a total of three flights. 

In 2016, plaintiff Eric Earll applied for an American Airlines credit card “in order to check baggage without charge.” When he checked in later that year after getting approved for the card, he says he was required to pay anyway. 

The ticket agent at the counter reportedly told him “this happens all the time” and said he should call customer service for a refund. Earll said he was never given a refund. 

The American Airlines baggage fees class action lawsuit points to problems with the ticketing system. The “Passenger Service System” tracks individual flyer statuses and sends the email confirmation to ticket holders.

“AA failed to program its checked bag terms in the standardized software system that AA uses to determine whether passengers must pay for checked bags when they check in at the airport,” the class action lawsuit contends.

The American Airlines baggage fees class action lawsuit describes the ticket-buying process as a contractual one and claims these fees are a breach of that contract.

The claims point to the “checked bag policy” on the American Airlines website. In the “what will it cost?” section, the following passengers are entitled to waived baggage fees:

• AAdvantage Gold members
• Oneworld Ruby members
• Certain AA-partner credit card holders on domestic flights
• AAdvantage Platinum and Platinum Pro members
• Oneworld Sapphire members
• Business and First Class ticket holders 

The class action further describes a litany of posts on social media from customers experiencing similar issues with American Airlines and their baggage fees. 

The class action lawsuit also points to a previous case involving American Airlines. In Bazerman v. American Airlines Inc., a Harvard professor claimed he was unfairly charged baggage fees. A judge approved a settlement.  

Have you purchased an American Airlines ticket and charged a baggage fee? Let us know in the comments below. 

Counsel for the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit are Patrick DeBlase and Michael Eyerly of DeBlase Brown Eyerly LLP; Oren Giskan of Giskan Solotaroff & Anderson LLP.

The American Airlines Baggage Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Cleary, et al. v. American Airlines Inc., Case No. 2:20-cv-08139, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. 

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