AAdvantage Lawsuit Claims American Airlines Wrongfully Terminated Members’ Accounts, Wiped Out Reward Miles

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A proposed class action alleges American Airlines has wrongfully terminated the accounts of certain AAdvantage program members and seized their accrued airline mile benefits without cause.

Was your AAdvantage account closed by American Airlines after you signed up for a Citibank credit card promotion that offered bonus miles? Let us know here.

The 28-page lawsuit was filed by two California consumers who claim the airline improperly closed their frequent flyer reward program accounts, resulting in the combined loss of more than one million validly earned miles and the cancelation of upcoming flights booked with miles.

The proposed class action lawsuit explains that AAdvantage members can earn miles—which can be redeemed when purchasing flights or for flight upgrades, car rentals and more—by using credit cards issued by the airline’s co-branding partners, including Citibank and Barclays. Members can rack up miles through enrollment bonuses when they open a Citi-AAdvantage or Barclays-AAdvantage credit card and when using their card to make everyday purchases, the case shares.

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As the complaint tells it, many consumers take advantage of these promotions and open multiple American Airlines-branded credit cards because doing so does not violate any restrictions in the AAdvantage program’s contract terms. In fact, the filing argues that the airline even encourages customers to enroll in and use multiple credit card accounts by sending credit card applications before and after an accountholder has received their card.

As such, American Airlines has no basis for shutting down members’ AAdvantage accounts, the lawsuit contends.

What’s more, the defendant does not adequately disclose to AAdvantage members why their accounts have been terminated, the suit claims. Per the case, when the airline shut down the plaintiffs’ accounts, the consumers were informed via email that the termination stemmed from alleged violations of the “General AAdvantage Program Conditions” and the accrual of miles and benefits through “fraud, misrepresentation and/or abuse of the AAdvantage Program.”

The plaintiffs—who, like many consumers, earned miles by enrolling in and using multiple American Airlines-branded credit cards—say they did not engage in any fraud when applying for the credit cards, and complied with all requirements and restrictions associated with opening several accounts.

“[American Airlines’] decision to terminate AAdvantage accounts entirely was improper and denied AAdvantage members the benefits they had accrued through previous purchases,” the complaint charges. “It is unclear precisely why [American Airlines] decided to terminate AAdvantage accounts—but it is clear that doing so was improper.”

The filing alleges that American Airlines has used this as an opportunity to “steal” AAdvantage members’ accrued bonus miles, all of which are seized upon an account’s closure, regardless of how they were earned.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone whose AAdvantage membership was terminated by American Airlines based on allegations of fraud related to the member’s application for, opening of or use of a Citi-AAdvantage or Barclays-AAdvantage credit card.

Was your AAdvantage account closed by American Airlines after you signed up for a Citibank credit card promotion that offered bonus miles? Let us know here.