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AAdvantage court case
Question:
A couple weeks ago I heard a news report on the radio that said a guy in (I think) Wisconsin was sueing American Airlines for changing the rules for their frequent flyer program after he signed up. I would guess that the change involved is the switch American made from non-expiring mileage accounts to a three year rolling expiration. Does anybody know if that was the cause of the suit, and if so what the status of the case is? I have several thousand miles with American that will expire at the end of this year if I don’t use them, but if it looks like they might be forced by this court case into returning to the non-expiring system, I’d rather save the miles for the future. Thanks for any info. Jeff Moersch
Response:
>A couple weeks ago I heard a news report on the radio that said a guy >in (I think) Wisconsin was sueing American Airlines for changing the >rules for their frequent flyer program after he signed up. I would >guess that the change involved is the switch American made from >non-expiring mileage accounts to a three year rolling expiration. Does >anybody know if that was the cause of the suit, and if so what the status >of the case is? I have several thousand miles with American that will >expire at the end of this year if I don’t use them, but if it looks like >they might be forced by this court case into returning to the non-expiring >system, I’d rather save the miles for the future.
Well, this is an interesting case for me too, anyone having info please post … If I recall correctly, most airlines were sort of forced to switch to an expiribg system, because of a change in fiscal regulations that would account accumulated mileage as a "liability" (looks bad in balance sheets ). Most business people with a lot of mileage are the less likely to use them (don’t have time to go on vacation or hate planes since they fly all the year round …). Therefore, if this is correct, I would be surprised that a court would rule against AA. — * Somewhere in EC uunet!hbiso!alex *
Response:
>If I recall correctly, most airlines were sort of forced to switch to an >expiribg system, because of a change in fiscal regulations that would >account accumulated mileage as a "liability" (looks bad in >balance sheets ). Most business people with a lot of mileage are the >less likely to use them (don’t have time to go on vacation or hate >planes since they fly all the year round …). Therefore, if this is >correct, I would be surprised that a court would rule against AA.
TWA mileage never expires. FFB mileage is a two edged sword. On one side is the fact that it is a liability, the other side is that it is an asset that keeps FF passengers as faithful as is possible according to their plans. I wouldn’t guess one way or the other regarding this court case there are more mysteries in the law than in the supernatural. — Larry Autry Silicon Graphics, St. Louis