Earlier this year, American Airlines sued the powerhouse media platform “The Points Guy“, best known for offering tips on how people can maximize their travel while minimizing their spending. But their niche is reporting on how to best gain and use airlines miles.
The company launched a new app in Sep 2021 that allows users to track their frequent flyer miles – from all carriers – in one place. It’s like a one-stop shop for users to track their airline, hotel and credit card miles and points all under one roof.
But AA claims the company is profiting off the airline’s proprietary data and violating their AAdvantage loyalty program’s trademark and customer service privacy. They also claim claim Points Guy is violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Points Guy wants to establish that the public can legally manage their own miles / points / rewards via a third-party, if they wish. And when AA first sent them a cease and desist, it was Points Guy who sued first.
AA’s suit seeks a court order forcing Points Guy to remove all links and data they have stored about the airline’s AAdvantage member accounts. Points Guy, combined with its website, app and various social media, reaches over 10 million views a month.
Both sides had a chance to settle the matter. But their lawyers notified a federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas this week that the talks failed.
The case will now head to trial in Sep 2023 (American Airlines Inc. v. Red Ventures LLC, 22-cv-44, US District Court, Northern District of Texas).
“We launched The Points Guy App for free last year with the goal of allowing travelers to track all of their loyalty programs in one spot. We believe that this gives consumers the power to see how much value they actually have in loyalty points and frequent flyer miles so that they can travel the world,” said Brian Kelly, Founder of The Points Guy.
“We are choosing to fight back against American Airlines on behalf of travelers to protect their rights to access their points and miles so they can travel smarter. We’ll continue to advocate because we believe the consumer has the right to choose whether you share your loyalty balances with a third party app that will make your life easier.”
Ultimately, both parties want the same thing – monetized views on their apps and websites. And the app = less people on AA’s platforms. Funny enough, Points Guy still publishes positively about AA, and the AA PR machine still pitches Points Guy with stories to do.
It’s always about money.
