Does Your Airline Owe You Money? Transpacific Price Fixing Class Action Settlement May Point to YES.
Many went to bed disappointed last night after realizing that the Danish currency mistake fares they booked through United would, in fact, not be honored despite a mass passenger appeal to the Department of Transportation. But there may be a new travel kickback in your future. If you have purchased and flown on a ticket between the US and Asia, Australia, New Zealand, or the Pacific Islands since January 1, 2000 you may be eligible as a participant in a class action settlement to an antitrust case alleging transpacific price fixing between major carriers.
I like to monitor open class action settlements via a website known as Top Class Actions. I’ve been surprised at how many settlement offers I’ve been eligible for with various retailers I’ve done business with.
Today I was skimming the latest settlements (talcum powder, energy drinks, banks – all things I’ve used) and stumbled across one where I know I’ve spent thousands of my personal dollars – transpacific flights!
The involved airlines have agreed to pay over $39 million into the class action settlement pool. There are five different settlement pools that cover both the defendant airlines and their alleged co-conspirators:
- JAL
- Air France/Singapore Airlines/Vietnam Airlines
- Thai Airways
- MalaysianAir
- Cathay Pacific/Qantas
The total list of settling defendants, non-settling defendants, and alleged co-conspirators is comprised of 27 different airlines across all three major alliances. Notably absent are the Gulf state carriers.
You can read more details about the settlement here. And be sure to visit the settlement website itself to register your claim if you are eligible.
My experience with class action suits: Lot of paperwork, pennies for the victims, millions of dollars for the lawyers.
My experience has varied. I’ve ended up with decent amounts on dollars off coupons from a couple that didn’t require too much paperwork. But I hear you on the attorneys… I have a friend who is a class action lawyer and know how much upside there can be!
@alphons Suit yourself. I completed very simple claim forms and in the last 5 months I’ve received settlement checks of $5, $12, $15, $28, $340 and $1,500 and a no minimum spend $10 voucher for a sporting goods store. That’s a lot of pennies.
The $1,500 was for non-disclosure of telephone call recording by a major bank. I only completed a form with my name and phone number and presumably the bank’s internal call records served as proof.
My head is spinning from reading the website. If I recall correctly, all of my transpac purchases were for United flights and were purchased directly from United. Are those covered??