Opinion ID: 2518489
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The plain language of the Mileage Plan reserves Alaska Airlines's right to make retroactive changes to the plan.

Text: Courts examine the contract as a whole when assessing the intent of the parties. [28] In this case, we must examine the nature of restrictions that Alaska Airlines informed its members would apply to the Mileage Plan. The inside front cover of the Terms and Conditions brochure that is mailed to every new Mileage Plan member contains the following language to warn members about possible changes to the plan: Alaska Airlines reserves the right to change the Mileage Plan terms, conditions, partners, mileage credits and/or award levels. Additional warnings run throughout the Terms and Conditions, including: Alaska Airlines may raise award levels or lower mileage levels, and [s]ubject to additions, deletions, or revisions at any time. Bold text in the brochure reiterates that [a]ll terms and conditions on Mileage Plan awards are subject to change.... Monzingo contends that these terms give Alaska Airlines the right to change award levels, as long as the changes do not apply to previously accumulated miles. But, as Alaska Airlines points out, it has also informed Mileage Plan members in its Terms and Conditions that [a]ccrued mileage and award certificates do not constitute property of the member, and that Alaska Airlines reserves the right to terminate the Mileage Plan with advance notice. We conclude that these provisions manifest an intent to clarify that members have no ownership right in the miles they have earned and thus cannot expect that the value of these miles will not diminish due to changes in the award levels. Because these provisions informed members that they have no vested right in their previously accumulated mileage, when read in conjunction with the other provisions of the plan, these terms appear to be an additional way of saying that Alaska Airlines has the power to alter or change the value of miles. [29]