By Josh Gerstein | POLITICO
A major airline argued at the Supreme Court Tuesday that individuals should have no recourse to the courts if they’re kicked out of a frequent flier program without any opportunity to redeem their accumulated miles.
A lawyer for Northwest (now a subsidiary of Delta) faced off with an attorney for Minnesota Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg as the justices took up Ginsberg’s claim that he was unfairly booted from the Worldperks program in 2008 (and denied continuing “platinum elite” status) when the airline decided he had lodged too many complaints with its personnel.
The fine print in Worldperks gave Northwest authority to decide in its “sole discretion” to kick out anyone abusing the program. However, Minnesota law includes an implicit “covenant of good faith and fair dealing” which can limit parties’ ability to take arbitrary actions in connection with a contract.
Former solicitor general Paul Clement, representing Northwest, sounded a bit cavalier about the rights of customers abruptly cast out of loyalty programs.
