Man Sues United Airlines Because You Have to Pre-Register Your Credit Card in its Mobile App to Buy Inflight Food and Beverages

A man is suing United Airlines following an altercation with a flight attendant because the Chicago-based carrier won’t let passengers pay for inflight food and beverages unless they have pre-registered their credit card in its mobile app.

James Sydner, who resides in Los Angeles, was flying with United Airlines from New York JFK to LAX on May 1, 2022, when he says he was discriminated against by a crew member because he couldn’t get his credit card to register in the United mobile app.

Sydner believes that the flight attendant treated him worse than other passengers because he is a gay man and used the mobile app credit card issue as a pretext to discriminate, harass and demean him during the transcontinental flight.

According to a recently filed lawsuit, Sydner’s flight had already experienced a two-hour maintenance delay, but hungry passengers’ attempts to get served food during the five-hour flight were hampered by issues with the app-based payment process.

Sydner says that he, like many other passengers, had tried multiple times to pre-register their credit card in United’s mobile app without success, although the way that flight attendants dealt with the issue varied from passenger to passenger.

In fact, his seatmate told the flight attendant that she had struggled to register her credit card, and the crew member disclosed that this was a problem faced by a number of other passengers on the flight.

Despite not having a registered credit card in the app, the flight attendant agreed to serve Sydner’s seatmate but brushed off Sydner when he explained that he had faced the same difficulties.

“I don’t think you tried hard enough,” the flight attendant allegedly snapped at Sydner, before telling him that he had plenty of time to figure out how to use the app before boarding the flight.

The flight attendant then told Sydner: “If there are any leftovers after serving everyone else, I will allow you to eat.”

Another passenger told Sydner that the flight attendant’s behavior “screamed racism,” and at this point, Sydner began to wonder whether the way she had treated him was actually due to homophobia.

The flight attendant then allegedly served everyone else a drink but ignored Sydner, who had to be served by another crew member.

Later, the same flight attendant returned and asked to see Sydner’s phone. He felt like he had to hand over the phone and “reluctantly” unlocked it, allowing the flight attendant to walk off and scroll through his phone.

“The discrimination Plaintiff endured was awful,” the complaint against United Airlines alleges.

Sydner has accused United of a slew of offenses, including breach of contract because the agreement between the two parties is said to include providing food and drink.

United Airlines quietly removed the ability to purchase food and drink using physical debit and credit cards in late 2020, saying that the new in-app system allowed a completely contactless experience.

Passengers have several ways to save their credit card information for inflight purchases, including during check-in by adding the details to their reservation, adding credit card information to their MileagePlus frequent flyer profile, or within United’s mobile app.

Credit card information must, however, be registered with United prior to takeoff, and flight attendants have no way of bypassing the system if a passenger only has a physical credit card or cash on them.

Passengers should also note that unless you link your credit card information to your MileagePlus account, then the information is only saved for the specific trip you are taking.

In other words, you’ll need to register your credit card information for every flight you take with United.

Astoningishly, Sydner is suing United for more than $100,000. The case is registered as 2:24-cv-08513, in the Central District of California.