American Airlines loyalty accounts class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Ari Nachison and Shanna Nachison filed a class action lawsuit against American Airlines Inc.
- Why: The pair claim American Airlines wrongfully terminated loyalty accounts belonging to members of its AAdvantage frequent flyer program.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.
American Airlines wrongfully and unilaterally terminated loyalty accounts belonging to members of its AAdvantage frequent flyer program, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs Ari Nachison and Shanna Nachison, claims the allegedly wrongful account closures resulted in the loss of airline miles benefits accrued from previous purchases.
The Nachisons argue they each lost more than 550,000 “lawfully accrued” reward miles after American Airlines terminated their respective AAdvantage accounts in January and February 2020.
“AA’s decision to terminate AAdvantage accounts entirely was improper and denied AAdvantage members the benefits they had accrued through previous purchases,” the American Airlines class action says.
Ari Nachison and Shanna Nachison claim American Airlines gave no reasoning for the account closures beyond that they had violated “the general AAdvantage program conditions.”
No evidence AAdvantage members engaged in fraud by opening credit cards, class action claims
The duo speculate the airline took issue with them opening multiple American Airlines-branded credit cards offered through CitiBank and Barclays to take advantage of certain promotions that were offered to members of AAdvantage.
No evidence suggests, however, that Ari Nachison or Shanna Nachison engaged in fraud or violated the terms and conditions set by Citi or Barclays by applying for, receiving approval for and using Citi-AAdvantage and Barclays-AAdvantage credit cards, the American Airlines class action alleges.
The plaintiffs want to represent a nationwide class of individuals who had their AAdvantage accounts terminated by American Airlines based on allegations of fraud related to an application for, opening of or use of a Citi-AAdvantage credit card or Barclays-AAdvantage credit card.
The duo claim American Airlines is guilty of unjust enrichment and breach of contract. They demand a jury trial and request an award of actual, general, special, incidental, statutory, punitive and consequential damages for themselves and all class members.
A former American Airlines employee filed a separate class action lawsuit against the company last month, arguing it discriminates against employees with disabilities by dinging them with punitive absence points when they need to miss work.
Have you had your AAdvantage account closed by American Airlines? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by Alex R. Straus, William A. Ladnier and Virginia Ann Whitener of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC.
The American Airlines loyalty accounts class action lawsuit is Nachison, et al. v. American Airlines Inc., Case No. 5:24-cv-00530, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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