I should start off by saying that I'm a third year law student and have been studying for finals all day. With all the thought about law, I though I'll through one out there that I've always wondered about.

Why is the contract of carriage part of the contract. Generally the terms of a contract consists of the terms that the parties have assented to. If a term is unclear, a court will generally assume one that is reasonable. Aside from maybe the airlines reputation for awful terms, it could hardly be said that the contract of carriage is reasonable or what most would assume. Overbooking, misconnections, schedule change etc.

I can see perhaps allowing the terms for tickets purchased online, or from sophisticated travelers who know. Online there are at least mentions that the contract applies. While it may be small print, there is at least notice that additional terms apply. If you purchase over the phone however, there is absolutely no notice. Agents are not trained to say that there are additional terms. Go here to read them. They just mention nothing. So the question I have is how are these terms binded upon the contract.

One way that this is done for consumer products is inside the packaging. A famous case deals with terms for software and since they can not put them all on the box, they were inside the box. However those cases made it clear that upon opening the box, if you disagreed with the terms you have a right to reject them and return the product. I know that even with phone purchases airlines still send a receipt which surely mentions the contract of carriage. However airlines tickets are not refundable. I don't think they woul accept if I recieved my eticklet recipet and then called them up and said I reject these terms.

I asked my contracts professor about this. He told me that since most know of these terms anyways it would be hard to argue that you were unaware. He did think that you would have a decent argument if you could really show that you were unaware.

Thoughts?

This 1997 rule from the DOT seems to address some of these issues:

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/19970422.pdf

I've always noticed that ticketing agents are pretty damn good at making sure I have the ticket jacket that mentions the contract of carriage, not to mention that it is usually on the back of the ticket stock as well.

When you buy an e-ticket online you have to tick a box showing that you read and accept the fare's terms of conditions. (Nobody ever does, partly because it's multiple pages of upper-case gibberish, but everyone ticks the box.) That's not the Contract of Carriage, which is a lengthy document that will not fit on the back of ticket stock but is supposed to be "available for inspection" at the airport. But it's illustrative of the basis on which airline-passenger contracts proceed, e.g. implied consent.

I think it's pretty clear than neither most passengers nor most airline service people know the Contract of Carriage chapter and verse, or you'd see reroutings due to delays, etc. handled with less debate and upset. But the airline could probably argue that, as with the box-tick ploy on nonrefundable fares, making the information available somehow is all that is now "reasonable and customary".

Yeah, but you've already bought the ticket at that point.
And what a lie that "available for inspection" business is. Anyone ever try to get them to give you a copy of it? Not going to happen.

If they don't have a copy available already they could pretty easily print one out. Have you tried? They're available on the web, so I've never felt like going through the trouble. If they weren't, I'd ask for it to be mailed to me.

The authority to incorporate contracts of carriage is given by 49 USC 41707 and 14 CFR 253. Once you've bought a ticket from an airline, it is pretty obvious that all of their tickets have the same contract of carriage. It would be hard to argue that there is no notice of the terms given unless someone is a first-time passenger. I really don't have a problem with this.

What I do have a problem with is being bound by fare rules that are not explained or provided at all before purchase. These change for every ticket and they can be quite surprising to pax sometimes in the way they change.

Can't ou order ac opy of the contract of carriage directly from the airline in advance of booking the ticket, and can't you order a copy of the software license agreement directly from the company before going to the store to buy the package?

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

Yes, I've asked a number of times and they've always refused. Closest I got was at the AA CTO (a nice facility) in the former WTC where the agent said she'd wouldn't print out the whole thing, but would print one or two sections for me if I asked for them specifically. Other agents refuse or say stuff like, "we don't have that."

They are on the Web -- now. Back a few years ago they weren't.

Though I'm not sure AA's whole thing is on the web because it's only like 5 pages or so, versus the 30-40 of some other airlines. So I don't know if it's an abbreviation or if AA just has a much shorter CoC.

Would you really want the law to be this way. Every time a consumer enters into a contract, they would have to go searching the internet for terms that might apply to the contract. My point is that at the very least when terms of a contract are to be imposed, there should be a sign pointing you to where these terms are. I don't really have a problem with web purchases because as mentioned there is a note that says contract of carriage applies, go here for more info. What I don't like is when companies try to imply terms and there is no notice that additional terms apply.

When you purchase over the phone you will still receive a confirmation letter, either email or snailmail, it will mention (have a notice about) the contract of carriage.

FAA requires airlines to have the contract available for inspection. Every ground employee at the airport must know where it is kept. It does not require the airlines to have copies available to hand out upon request at the airport.

Yes, but by then it is too late to cancel the ticket. The whole concept of making terms of a contract available is so that people can decline to accept the contract if they feel that the terms are unacceptable. This is why limitations on products about warranty, use etc. give you a right to refund if you refuse to accept. What good does providing me notice of the terms do, if it is done when it is too late for me to reject those terms.