Quote:
Originally Posted by PHXFlyer
There you go quoting a case that is ancient, was a split decision in the Supreme Court, and can no longer be used as precedent since other cases have superceded it. Most ticket purchases are done online. Before one purchases a ticket one is required to agree to all terms and conditions by ticking off a box which reads something like this: (Using Continental Airlines verbiage as an example)
If one doesn't indicate agreement then the purchase does not go through. If one chooses not to read the fare rules and contract of carriage (hyper-links are provided for both) then it's the fault of the purchaser for agreeing to terms which he or she has not read.
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Lisi v Alitalia was never overruled. It was a Court of Appeals decision. When it went to the Supreme Court it was a 4-4 split decision as one of the 9 judges had to abstain. As a result, the Supreme Court had to uphold the decision and it remains good law.
Perhaps you will let me know of the later case that superceded it. There have been later cases that have referred to it and said that in the context of the Warsaw convention, the fact that the writing on the ticket is not brought to the attention of the passenger, would not invalidate the Convention provisions because the Convention must be followed. However insofar as the case found that writing on the ticket that is not brought to the attention of the passenger, will not bind the passenger, that remains good law until today.
With regard to the clicking on the box for internet purchases, the conditions again will not bind the passenger unless they are clearly before the purchaser either when or before he clicks the box. The conditions must be before him at the time otherwise that clicking on the box to allow the transaction to to through will not bind him. On some airline websites, you can make the booking and then next day go to the airline ticket office and pay for and receive the ticket. No clicking of any box. The conditions are on what they hand you after you pay. Are you saying that the position of the passenger who sits in his home and clicks the box to agree and pays for the ticket and prints it on his printer, is any different to the passenger who makes his reservation on the internet then goes to the airline office the next day and is handed something after he pays?
This principle was again expressed in the notice on the hotel room door case I refered to earlier which was
Olley v Malborough Court which is good law today, never having been overruled. It is available on the internet and you should read it. This is a 1949 case and still good law. case law does not get worse with age. Some judges take the view that if the principles have stood so long and not been overruled, they become stronger with time, unless one can show that they have become so inapplicable with the passage of time that they can no longer stand. This principle of the invalidity of writing on a ticket, are to be found in the most recent texts on contract law.
Just consider this. Article 19 of the Warsaw convention provides:
"The carrier is liable for delay in the carriage occasioned by delay ..."
These conditions of carriage are printed on those international tickets for which the Warsaw convention apply. If it was that dates and times are not part of the contract, there would be nothing like "delay" which is word that must refer to some scheduled date and time, and if that writing wa valid it would make a nonsense of the Warsaw Convention.
Further a court deciding this issue would look at what is expected by passengers. When I turn up for a flight, do I expect to be told to come back tomorrow because the date was not part of the contract? What if I turned up the day after the date on the ticket, would the agent tell me, "Sure you can travel, because we all know dates and times are not part of the contract," Most likely I would lose the ticket altogether.
Just ask your granddaddy or that dear old judge. Or if they are not here today, just go into any legal bookshop and pretend you are a lawyer perusing a book and pick up a contract law text and look in the index for "Terms of a contract" or "Standard form" contract.