Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

The Independent TradersThe Independent Traders

Business

Spirit Airlines to pay up to $8.25 million in class action over ‘gotcha’ carry-on bag fees

Spirit Airlines has agreed to pay up to $8.25 million to settle a class action lawsuit by passengers who said the low-cost carrier blindsided them with surprise carry-on bag fees on tickets bought through third-party travel services.

Lawyers for the passengers disclosed the deal in a motion late Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn and asked a judge to approve it, saying it “represents a fair compromise.”

The class includes first-time Spirit fliers who booked their flights through Expedia, Travelocity, Kiwi, CheapOair, CheapTickets or BookIt between August 2011 and May 2017, when the lawsuit was filed.

Eligible travelers who seek refunds under the deal will get up to 75% of their fees back, though it could be lower depending on the total amount of refunds sought by all class members. The $8.25 million maximum payout will include attorneys’ fees, according to the motion.

Spirit and lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Like other low-cost airlines, Miramar, Florida-based Spirit relies on added fees to help make up for lower base fares.

Plaintiffs in the 2017 lawsuit accused the carrier of advertising misleading low prices on travel websites that concealed the “gotcha” bag fees travelers would have to pay at the airport.

They said these fees were sometimes as much as the tickets themselves. The plaintiffs originally sought $100 million in punitive damages, though that was dropped from a later version of the lawsuit.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

You May Also Like

Tech News

Unity Earlier this week, Unity, the company that makes the Unity video game engine popular with indie developers, announced that it was changing its...

Tech News

Illustration: The Verge X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced a series of changes to her executive team, including a shakeup to the company’s sales organization...

Tech News

Image: Brazil Climate Summit At the moment I arrived at the Brazil Climate Summit event, it felt like home to me. As I opened...

Tech News

The Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 mouse. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge I called it the real magic mouse, but...