Durbin Introduces Protect Your Points Act

The New Bill Would Amp Up Consumer Protections By Requiring Greater Transparency From Airlines' Frequent Flyer Programs

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Protect Your Points Act, legislation that would strengthen consumer protections by requiring greater transparency from airlines' frequent flyer, points, and loyalty programs. The Protect Your Points Act will give the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) explicit authority to ensure that airlines do not bait and switch consumers by offering them an enticing rewards program, only to downgrade points or miles value without notice.

As it stands, airlines have little oversight in how they conduct their frequent flyer programs. Thousands of frustrated consumers have registered complaints about the airlines on the Better Business Bureau's website, including instances of their points being devalued, being unable to purchase tickets using their earned points because of airline loopholes, or the airlines delaying or flat-out denying their promised rewards.

"I understand the practicality of airline rewards programs-I'm a participant myself. But without adequate oversight, airlines are taking advantage of their customers by offering grandiose rewards, only to change the terms and conditions without consumers' knowledge," Durbin said. "My new legislation, the Protect Your Points Act, would require one thing from the airlines - transparency. To be clear, my bill would not eliminate your airline rewards programs or regulate the value of your points or miles. My bill only requires the airlines to play fair. If these programs are as valuable to consumers as the airlines claim they are, the airlines should have no trouble taking these simple steps to make them more transparent."

Specifically, the Protect Your Points Act would give DOT and CFPB the authority to:

• Prohibit airlines from including provisions within their frequent flyer programs' and airline co-branded credit cards' terms of service that reserve their right to make changes at any time without notice to consumers, and instead require them to provide at least one year's notice to consumers of any changes to these terms of service, or any actions that would devalue or jeopardize accrued points;

• Require airlines, within 90 days of enactment, to prominently display on every page of their website a disclosure of the financial value of one point/mile, updated in real time, so that consumers may more easily compare the value of points across different airlines;

• Require airlines, within one year of enactment, to display airfare and add-on pricing concurrently in dollar value and points/miles value, without consumers needing to alternate between the two, so consumers can easily compare the worth of their points. Further, it would allow consumers to pay for airfare and add-on services in any combination of points or dollars;

• Ban junk fees related to points/miles by ensuring that consumers are allowed to transfer points to family members or other participants in the same program, and prohibit airlines from charging fees to do so;

• Prohibit airlines from limiting the number of points/miles that can be transferred to another traveler's account and ensure that any points/miles remain of equal value once transferred; and

• Prohibit accrued points/miles from expiring.

Durbin has repeatedly called out the airline industry for its unfair and deceptive practices in their frequent flyer and loyalty programs. In May, Durbin urged U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to implement oversight on the airlines. Last October, Durbin wrote to DOT and CFPB, requesting information from the agencies about actions they are taking to protect consumers from airlines' deceptive and unfair practices.