Oct 1, 2013, 3:03 pm
Last edit by: Ari
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• • • • •
[Please post
NLY status updates and relevant Q&A here.]Plaintiff: George Lagen, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated
Defendant: United Continental Holdings, Inc. and United Airlines, Inc.
Filed In The United States District Court For The Northern District Of Illinois Eastern Division
Case No. 1:12-cv-04056
Filed: 05/24/2012
Judge Harry D. Leinenweber
Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim
Proposed class: All persons, as of midnight, December 31, 2011, who were members of the Million Mile Program under United Airlines’ Mileage Plus frequent flyer program.
Filings/rulings can be found on www.pacer.gov (requires registration)
12 June 2012 - Amended Class Action Complaint filed
Spring 2013 - Court denies United's request to close case
Spring 2013 - Plaintiff files for suit to become a class action, United asks Judge before he decides if there could be limited discovery (which typically happens after case becomes class-action). Judge allows it.
August 2013 - Depositions/Limited Discovery completed and transcripts were handed over to the court.
22 October 2013 - Pursuant to an order of the Court, both sides filed cross-motions for summary judgment:
Plaintiff contends that he is a United pre-merger Million Miler, that United promised Million Miler fliers certain lifetime benefits on its web site, including two regional upgrades every year and Premier Executive status, which provided certain delineated benefits (e.g., 100% mileage bonus). Plaintiff cites deposition testimony from United stating "lifetime" means: "as long as they were really able to fly … as long as someone is coming on a plane and alive and capable of flying." Plaintiff concludes by stating that United has breached its contract with its pre-merger Million Miler fliers by reducing the lifetime benefits they were promised.
United contends in its motion that Million Miler is part of the MileagePlus program, that United reserved the right to make any changes it wishes to the MileagePlus program, and that the changes it made that plaintiff now complains of are therefore contractually permissible. United does not admit, and does not address, the "lifetime" benefit statements that it made on its website.
23 January 2014 - Judge denies Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and grants United's cross-motion for summary judgment. Judgment entered in favor of United.
The Judge begins his Opinion with a quote from Job: “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away” and then holds that Plaintiff has not produced any evidence that UA made him an offer to participate in a separate MM program.
The Court noted that: “The sum total of his evidence is vague references to ‘electronic and written correspondence’ from United, which, in both instances postdates his qualification as a Million Mile flyer and was not directed to him; and a 1997 Newsletter from United announcing the creation of the program he could not remember receiving. However the card he did receive from United, admitting him to MililionMile Flyer Program, shows that his new status is clearly a status within the Mileage Plus Frequent Flyer Program, as does the form letters United sent to applicants advising them of their admission to the MillionMile Flyer program. In fact, Plaintiff in his Complaint alleges that the MillionMile Flyer program was part of the Mileage Plus program. He has not produced any document that comes close to substantiating that the programs were separate and distinct."
Bottom line: The Court agreed with United's position that the Plaintiff had not proved the existence of a separate contract between itself and the Million Milers.
Full decision: http://media.wandr.me/MMerOpinion.pdf
20 February 2014
Plaintiff filed a notice of appeal of the trial court's decision. The record on appeal is due by March 13, 2014.
Appeal docs available at:
- http://media.wandr.me/UAL-MM-Appeal-filed-2-20-14.pdf
- http://media.wandr.me/UAL-MM-letter-of-appeal.pdf
8 September 2014
Oral arguments were heard by a three judge panel. Links to the original MP3 of the Court's recording and also some transcription can be found around post 2350 and for several more following that.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23496499-post2361.html
22 December 2014
Affirmed over a dissent.
http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2014/D12-22/C:14-1375:J:Wood:aut:T:fnOp:N:1474449:S:0
Million Miler Sues United [Judgment for UA Jan 2014] Judgment Affirmed Dec 2014
May 25, 2012, 6:07 pm
#16
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: PDX
Programs: UA Global Services / Million Miler, Marriott Ambassador / Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 594
Using the arguments in this thread, then i don't see why this would be limited to current MM'ers. If you paid UA Full F v competition for 3 years and ended at 990k miles, to me, you have as much damage as a current MM'er.
(FWIW, I'm still a yr from getting it, but I definitely directed BIS traffic to UA in expectation of 2 CR1's for life once hitting MM)
(FWIW, I'm still a yr from getting it, but I definitely directed BIS traffic to UA in expectation of 2 CR1's for life once hitting MM)
Kudos to someone at least taking a true stab at this.
May 25, 2012, 6:14 pm
#17
Join Date: Apr 2006
Programs: Global Services
Posts: 15
The plaintiff did do something stupid to himself -- he did not read his contract. It is linked below, and as we all know United can modify the program at its discretion. He got what he paid for, which is $$hundreds of thousands of travel, according to the linked article. He may be really angry, as I would be, but I don't see the grounds for a successful suit. I'm sure I'll get flamed, but that's my opinion.
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...s/default.aspx
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...s/default.aspx
May 25, 2012, 6:21 pm
#18
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: AA Plat 2MM/UA G MM/DL MM DM 2015/BA Silver/Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 3,103
Ua has the right to change the program. If you are not a million miler, sucks to be you. In this case, though, the plaintiff has fulfilled the requirement of a million miler and as such is entitled to the benefits.
Imagine you accumulated 100k miles and booked a trip for September back in February. Would it be acceptable for the new Ua to undo the reservation and ask you for 120 k miles since that is what it would cost under the new program?
This will be fun.
Imagine you accumulated 100k miles and booked a trip for September back in February. Would it be acceptable for the new Ua to undo the reservation and ask you for 120 k miles since that is what it would cost under the new program?
This will be fun.
May 25, 2012, 6:23 pm
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 35,068
I think this lawsuit is more about using potential adverse publicity against UA as leverage to get them to restore the lost benefits rather than winning outright. If the suit goes forward (and it's a big "if") the plaintiff can use Discovery to closely examine UA about both MP and the MM program. UA obviously would not want that.
The MM changes were a while ago. He waited until now to sue.
From the article: "The suit notes a recent comment by John Rainey, United's new chief financial officer during an investor conference this month. Rainey said some members of the frequent-flier program were "over-entitled," a comment that drew customer ire on frequent-flier message boards."
The Rainey comment was what, a week ago? Either Rainey drove him to do it, or this gave him ammo to say UA had intent.
Either way, if he wanted to sue, he could have weeks or months ago. It's Rainey who made this bed.
May 25, 2012, 6:31 pm
#20
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: NY
Programs: UA Plat (1mm), Marriott Titanium, HH Gold, Hertz Pres
Posts: 430
IMHO, another case where if you don't like it, take your business elsewhere. I don't understand these type of lawsuits.
May 25, 2012, 6:33 pm
#21
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: Mosaic 2, Bonvoy Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Premium Cabin free agent
Posts: 848
+1
The MM changes were a while ago. He waited until now to sue.
From the article: "The suit notes a recent comment by John Rainey, United's new chief financial officer during an investor conference this month. Rainey said some members of the frequent-flier program were "over-entitled," a comment that drew customer ire on frequent-flier message boards."
The Rainey comment was what, a week ago? Either Rainey drove him to do it, or this gave him ammo to say UA had intent.
Either way, if he wanted to sue, he could have weeks or months ago. It's Rainey who made this bed.
The MM changes were a while ago. He waited until now to sue.
From the article: "The suit notes a recent comment by John Rainey, United's new chief financial officer during an investor conference this month. Rainey said some members of the frequent-flier program were "over-entitled," a comment that drew customer ire on frequent-flier message boards."
The Rainey comment was what, a week ago? Either Rainey drove him to do it, or this gave him ammo to say UA had intent.
Either way, if he wanted to sue, he could have weeks or months ago. It's Rainey who made this bed.
May 25, 2012, 6:38 pm
#22
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: YVR SFO
Programs: UA G
Posts: 4,866
I'm not a lawyer. What's the significance of the benefits being "bargained-for"?
May 25, 2012, 6:39 pm
#23
Join Date: May 2002
Location: US
Programs: UA GS 2MM
Posts: 1,740
With the suit filed in Chicago, my fingers are crossed that the judge is a United flyer!
May 25, 2012, 6:40 pm
#24
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,856
Unfortunately, I don't see how you get around the language that "MileagePlus membership and benefits, including the Premier Program, are offered at the discretion of United Airlines and its affiliates, and United has the right to terminate the Program and/or the Premier Program or to change the Program Rules, regulations, benefits, conditions of participation or mileage levels, in whole or in part, at any time". .....
May 25, 2012, 6:42 pm
#25
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SFO, PDX, CDG
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 161
Unfortunately, I don't see how you get around the language that "MileagePlus membership and benefits, including the Premier Program, are offered at the discretion of United Airlines and its affiliates, and United has the right to terminate the Program and/or the Premier Program or to change the Program Rules, regulations, benefits, conditions of participation or mileage levels, in whole or in part, at any time".
IMHO, another case where if you don't like it, take your business elsewhere. I don't understand these type of lawsuits.
IMHO, another case where if you don't like it, take your business elsewhere. I don't understand these type of lawsuits.
That said, it is a country of generally great extremes. These extremes lend both to companies going too far and people going too far. I reasonably doubt the "change any time" wording of many loyalty programs would stand up in countries with greater consumer protection. It is when the prominent wording of the program creates promises that conflict with the fine print, leading to deception, or the perception of deception, that a consumer could reasonably argue that damage has occurred. In this instance, to me, that is plainly, obviously the case. In court, over time, it is likely a wash. It will be interesting to see.
I am certain, though, that in no way is it likely that United can possibly come out on the positive side of this.
May 25, 2012, 6:57 pm
#26
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: MDT / BWI / IAD
Programs: UA Plat 1MM
Posts: 477
Bingo. I've argued this many times over in the mega MM thread. I was exactly at 800K BIS miles on 12/31/11, and you can bet the lure of promised lifetime benefits over the course of YEARS played very heavily into my decisions for the 10 years of heavy travel leading up to that. It's a slippery slope and shouldn't be solely about officially having crossed 1M BIS by 12/31 or not. If there is resolution, it needs to be whole resolution. And if that means I need to keep flying to get to 1 M UA metal BIS to get it, that's fine by me. I'd much rather get rid of my current MM status post conversion (at about 1.25M or so with the extras due to lots of paid international Z, D and C) and still go for what the benefits had been promised over many years.
Kudos to someone at least taking a true stab at this.
Kudos to someone at least taking a true stab at this.
Same boat here. I'm still adding business to UA and hoping for a good resolution on this issue. But, at 870K (and booked to 950K), I'm losing patience quickly.
May 25, 2012, 7:11 pm
#27
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
The filing would be more believable if the supposed claims were actually accurate.
May 25, 2012, 7:38 pm
#28
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: HPN
Programs: not anymore! I'm FREE!
Posts: 3,459
Unfortunately, I don't see how you get around the language that "MileagePlus membership and benefits, including the Premier Program, are offered at the discretion of United Airlines and its affiliates, and United has the right to terminate the Program and/or the Premier Program or to change the Program Rules, regulations, benefits, conditions of participation or mileage levels, in whole or in part, at any time".
Still, it stinks. What, after all, does loyalty mean if it's a one way street? At the very least, UA should have allowed existing MMers, and perhaps also those who have already accumulated a significant fraction of 1 million miles, to choose the old benefits or the new ones. This is just simple common sense: don't piss off your best customers.
May 25, 2012, 8:18 pm
#29
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike.. but I wanna go home with the armadillo
Programs: CO, NW, & UA forum moderator emeritus
Posts: 35,432
n and hyperbole.
May 25, 2012, 8:32 pm
#30
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Austin TX USA
Programs: UA life 1K, 2MM; AA Life Pt 3mm; DL nada now!; AS nada now; BA, FD, CX, LH, DD, Amex Pt, Diners
Posts: 950
Interesting... some offbeat thoughts...
An interesting way to get a few $150 off vouchers. 
Let's hope he does not get to lose all his miles for a hidden city or incorrect change fee at some time in his flying career, cos they are going to be looking... 
He's not a lawyer or living with one is he? OK Dumb question....
So my last comment is that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to get to 1MM miles and he implies that his goal of flying was just this. Me thinks he needs to join flyertalk. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a million miles. Let's assume that is $300k, then that is 300,000 x 100 / 1,000,000 = 30 cents a mile. Not exactly mileage run stuff. In fact that is 10 x worse than the 3 cent a mile rates we see featured on this site daily.
Let's hope he does not get to lose all his miles for a hidden city or incorrect change fee at some time in his flying career, cos they are going to be looking... He's not a lawyer or living with one is he? OK Dumb question....So my last comment is that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to get to 1MM miles and he implies that his goal of flying was just this. Me thinks he needs to join flyertalk. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a million miles. Let's assume that is $300k, then that is 300,000 x 100 / 1,000,000 = 30 cents a mile. Not exactly mileage run stuff. In fact that is 10 x worse than the 3 cent a mile rates we see featured on this site daily.