In August 2025, two nearly identical lawsuits were filed: one against United (in San Francisco federal court) and one against Delta Air Lines (in Brooklyn federal court). They claim that each airline sold more than one million “window seats” on aircraft such as the Boeing 737, Boeing 757, and Airbus A321, many of which are next to blank fuselage walls rather than windows.

Passengers say they paid seat-selection fees (commonly $30 to $100+) expecting a view, sunlight, or the comfort of a genuine window seat — and say they would not have booked or paid extra had they known the seat lacked a window.

As reported by Reuters, United’s filing argues that it never promised a view when it used the label “window” for a seat. According to the airline, “window” refers only to the seat’s location next to the aircraft wall, not a guarantee of an exterior view.

  • MisterFrog@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    Are their no small claims tribunals in the US? This refund would be over so quickly in Australia and no doubt the ACCC would be on their arse.

    We barely do anything about monopolies here these these days, but at least false advertising and right to refunds are rock solid.

    Also, those seat selection fees are crazy. International flights I’ve seen like $8, maybe $15 if you’re getting really crazy.

    Who in the world is paying $100 to select their seat?

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      7 hours ago

      There are small claims courts in the US.

      Its a pain in the ass and you can’t get extra damages or anything like that. So the most people would be entitled to was the 30-100 bucks they overpaid for their seat. It would also require each claimant to spend hours of their life preparing and doing it.

      So instead they do class action, so it can all be on trial and anyone in the class can apply for a refund quickly if they win.

    • Bakkoda@lemmy.zip
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      8 hours ago

      As soon as you can have a president tell people news is fake because he doesn’t like it, words have no meaning and this is the result of interpretation in an authoritarian environment. The customer or end user has no recourse and there’s is no loyalty or trust with the brand.

      • nomylous@lemmy.today
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        7 hours ago

        I agree with the sentiment but this definitely didn’t begin with Dump. We’ve been getting increasingly fucked by corpos for decades, Cheeto is just the most recent.

        • Bakkoda@lemmy.zip
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          6 hours ago

          It’s the most blatant bullshit, not just the most recent. It’s past the point where it should be believable. Passing it off as “just the most recent” feels very both sides to me but maybe that’s just how I’m reading it.

        • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          7 hours ago

          Yeah, but Democrats were at least doing things like creating the Consumer Protection Bureau (which Trump has since killed)