A few months ago, you
wrote a column about how the users of American Airlines' Web site give up all of
their legal rights when they book a flight.
Does the same hold true for booking on other major carriers'
Web sites? What about booking on Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia?
A: The Web sites of the seven major U.S.
airlines (AA.com,
Continental.com, Delta.com, NWA.com, Southwest.com, UAL.com and USAirways.com) -- as well as Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity --
have the following in common:
• All fare information and booking capabilities are provided "as
is." This means that if the information on the site is wrong, you
have no legal remedy.
It also means that if the site makes errors in transmitting your
booking or fails to transmit it at all, there is nothing you can do
about it.
• All sites disclaim all "warranties of suitability for a
particular purpose."
This means that, legally speaking, the Web site's owners are
telling you that they do not promise their sites are suitable for
anything and that, if you do use them, the owners have no
responsibility if anything does not work.
The quoted legal terms make online transactions legally similar
to the purchase of a used car from a nondealer. The seller sells
the car as is with no warranties. Whatever is wrong with the car is
the buyer's problem.
Five of the seven airline Web sites and all three public booking
sites make you waive all claims for money damages of any kind.
Orbitz extends this disclaimer to all of its travel suppliers -- so
if you book on Orbitz, you agree not to sue any supplier for
anything. Only Delta and Southwest omit this waiver of money
damages.
If you book on the following sites, you agree to sue and be sued
only in the following jurisdictions: AA.com and Travelocity, Tarrant County, Texas; Continental.com,
Harris County, Texas; NWA.com, Dakota County, Minn; UAL.com, Illinois; Orbitz, Cook
County, Ill.; and Expedia, King County, Wash.
Travel agencies' booking engines do not require travelers to
agree to any of these kinds of oppressive terms. In fact, most
agencies' sites have no terms and conditions at all.
Mark Pestronk is a Fairfax, Va.-based attorney specializing
in travel law. He answers your questions in the TravelWeekly.com
Legal Ease forum. To contact Mark directly, e-mail him at [email protected].