California man sues major airline for cutting Flight Pass benefits in half

CALIFORNIA – A California man has filed a class action lawsuit against Alaska Airlines, alleging breach of contract for altering the terms of its Flight Pass program.

Plaintiff Luke Burton said he subscribed to Alaska Airlines’ Flight Pass program on July 29, 2024, securing 24 annual roundtrip flight credits (two flights a month) at a monthly rate of $189.

The Alaska Airlines Flight Pass program requires customers to commit to a 12-month subscription, paid through recurring monthly installments.

“To lock in revenue, the Flight Pass Program’s Terms and Conditions explicitly stated that the subscription had a mandatory 12-month term, during which it could not be canceled and was non-refundable,” according to court documents.

This meant that the advertised $189 per month was really an annual commitment of $2,268, according to Burton.

Reduced benefits to 6 or 12 flights per year

Alaska Airlines announced on October 1, 2024, it would retire the current Flight Pass plan and offered subscribers the option to update their subscription to 6- or 12-flight-per-year plans, regardless of how many months remained in their annual commitment.

This change required subscribers to contact Alaska Airlines by November 30, 2024, to lock in the new rates.

“Alaska Airlines’ unilateral modification effectively halved the value of the Program for existing subscribers, who already agreed to pay monthly installments for the entire year based on Alaska Airlines’ original promises,” according to court documents.

Advertised no blackout dates

Burton also alleges Alaska Airlines misrepresented the program’s value since subscribers still paid extra taxes, fees, and premium charges for popular flights.

He claims the online booking process was frustrating and often malfunctioned with error messages such as “We cannot process your request now. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

These errors rendered the website unusable for booking Flight Pass flights. Subscribers had to book by phone, facing long hold times.

Burton also claims the airline hid policies such as non-transferable credits and credit forfeiture.

It misrepresented route availability, showing routes that required “premium fares” despite advertising no blackout dates, according to Burton.

Seeking order to stop deceptive practices

Burton alleges Alaska Airlines breached contracts and violated consumer protection laws in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Washington.

He aims to represent a class seeking damages, restitution, injunctive relief, and an order to stop deceptive practices.