Tanen v. Southwest Airlines Co.

Opinion

SUZUKAWA, J.

Plaintiff and appellant Mitch Tanen (Tanen) bought a $100 travel certificate from defendant and respondent Southwest Airlines Co. (Southwest) in February 2005. He attempted to redeem it 14 months later, after its stated expiration date. When Southwest refused to honor the travel certificate, Tanen sued, asserting that the expiration date violated Civil Code section 1749.5, which makes it unlawful to sell a gift certificate that contains an expiration date. Southwest demurred, contending that Tanen’s claims were preempted by the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978…