In a legal onslaught against American Airlines, two disgruntled customers, Ari and Shanna Nachison, have initiated a proposed class action, alleging the wrongful deprivation of a staggering 1.1 million frequent flier miles. The airline is accused of abruptly terminating their AAdvantage accounts, pointing fingers at supposed fraudulent activities related to credit cards with co-branding ties to Citibank and Barclays.
Hailing from Los Gatos, California, the Nachisons contend that their card applications did not explicitly prohibit the accumulation of multiple mileage bonuses within a 48-month timeframe. Puzzlingly, American Airlines closed their accounts in early 2020 without providing a clear explanation for the drastic measure.
The Fort Worth-based carrier justified the terminations by citing violations “related to the accrual of ineligible miles and benefits; through fraud, misrepresentation, and/or abuse of the AAdvantage Program” in email notifications to the Nachisons. Ari Nachison suffered a loss of 564,463 miles, while Shanna Nachison lamented the disappearance of 550,664 hard-earned miles.
The Nachisons argue that American’s generic emails, devoid of specific violations or implicated credit cards, exempt them from applicable statutes of limitations, delaying their pursuit of legal remedies. As the airline maintains its silence, requests for comments from American and the plaintiffs’ lawyers remain unanswered.
The lawsuit, filed in the federal court of San Jose, California, seeks damages on behalf of individuals whose AAdvantage accounts faced termination under allegations of fraud linked to Citi-AAdvantage and Barclays-AAdvantage credit cards. This legal battle unfolds against the backdrop of an industry trend where airlines, including American, have heightened spending and mileage prerequisites for frequent fliers, curtailing their access to exclusive perks.
As American Airlines faces heightened scrutiny over its handling of loyalty program disputes, the case dubbed Nachison et al v American Airlines Inc is poised to unravel in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, under docket number 24-00530.
