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In Fine Print, Airlines Make It Harder to Fight for Passenger Rights
As air travel reopens and flight bookings begin to creep up, AvGeeks — aviation geeks — and others may notice some new legalese in the fine print when they buy plane tickets. More and more carriers are adding clauses that require passengers to settle disputes with the airline in private arbitration, rather than in court, and bar passengers from starting or joining class-action lawsuits. In early April, American Airlines updated its contract of carriage, a standard industry document that… (www.yahoo.com) Plus d'info...Maybe not corrupt, but certainly greedy.
WestJet refused to refund me for an Easter trip to UK (YYZ-LGW-YYZ), offering a travel voucher only. I called Visa and disputed the charge for 'frustration of contract', got the money back from Visa within a week.
I'm pretty sure they have no power in whether or not people are allowed to file class action lawsuits.
Typically, contracts are binding, so if it is part of the contract, then people get stuck. It will be interesting to see what happens over time and if regulations step in or if an arbiter says, yes, the law says you are legally to get your money back, but you can not have it....
The fun, and more importantly, the dignity has been sucked out of the travel experience.