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United argues 'window seat' does not mean 'seat with a window' (aerospaceglobalnews.com)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
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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.

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[–] 28 points 9 months ago (3 children)

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?

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  • [–] 16 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    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.

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  • [–] 3 points 9 months ago

    Conversely, if you file small claims against a large corporation, chances are they won’t show up and you’ll win by default. But yeah it would take more time than it’s worth. So really it would only be out of spite.

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  • [–] 13 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    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.

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  • [–] 10 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months 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.

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  • [–] 7 points 9 months ago

    Seat selection, and it seems like every other friggin extra airline fee in the US, seems to be based on how full the flight is and how much people are willing to pay for it. 90% sure they are experimenting with it to the point where that fee will change just by refreshing the page and they likely have everything from $5-$200 'upgrade' fees based on what they've found they can get away with. Hell, I'm surprised they haven't started auctioning the seats while waiting to board. Maybe just typing this was a bad idea.

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