Question For You Attorneys

[LindaBluedolphin]

I know I have been on flights where the flight attendants are constantly going through the aisle asking if anyone has change for a $20, so possibly it is as simple as that, they don't have a cash box of change to begin with, and can't make change. Kind of a simple response, but a possibility.

 

[jeraldjcook]

Here it is, for the US Treasury's website:

http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml

 

[ScubaNorth]

My first thought is "geez I wish my issue was I had to use a credit card on a flight from Hawaii". That aside it is just bad business to not accept cash for petty expenses. I know it can be a pain in the neck for the flight crew but face it they are there to service the customers. Too many businesses really are not there for the customer anymore, and this is just one example. Just don't fly with them anymore and move on. Illegal no, just a dumb half thought out policy which is so typical of businesses today.

 

[AXL72]

I'm not a lawyer yet, just a law student but here it goes.

It's perfectly legal. Private business can set what policies on accepting payment they wish. Credit only, cash only, even quarters only, all would be perfectly legal. The question for the business is whether their customers will like their policy. The Coinage Act of 1965 (see 31 U.S.C. 5103) defines "legal tender" but does not require businesses accept it as payment.

I think you can better argue this in court using contract law.

Imagine you sign a contract with a home contractor to remodel your bathroom.

terms of contract stipulate that the work is to begin no later than February 15, 2007 and be completed by no later than May 31. Imagine the contractor saying, omg....isn't illegal for you to stipulate that I need to be done by May 31, 2007. As long as I eventually get done witrh the work by mid 2008, I should be considered a contractor and fulfilling the contract. Imagine even worse....a federal highway project, and the contractor saying..."omg...u r goging to charge me penalties for every day past the contract's stated complettion date.........booo hooo...that cannot be legal can it?" Yes it is legal...it was what the parties agreed to in entering into he contract.

Now just replace the completion date of that contract with the payment terms of payment by dredit card for rum on an airplane / airline. Although the contract in the airline example is oral and unsigned, it is a contract none the less.

Contracts can stipulate special payment terms and delivery terms. Case in point are the IncoTerms (http://www.export911.com/e911/export/comTerm.htm).

 

[AXL72]

I'm not in a position to do the legal research right now and probably won't remember to do it later ...but, my recollection is that federal law requires any business to accept legal tender of the United States. Hotels must accept cash, though they are able to require a credit card to secure payment.

NO.....in a legal and binding contract such as the topic of this thread.....payment terms can be whatever the two parties agree to. If they agree to payment by credit card payment only.....so be it. If one party can't accept the terms of the offer, then there is no contract, no debt, and the one party gets to remain perfectly sober.

 

[RonDawg]

Here it is, for the US Treasury's website:

http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml

Perhaps we should post an important part of that website to make it clear to everybody that what Hawaiian Airlines did is perfectly legal:

This statute (Coinage Act 1965) means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.

 

[ArcticDiver]

I would think a company as large as an airline would have cleared such a thing with their own lawyers, before providing fodder for other people's lawyers in the form of a publicly accessible website. The point is that they made an effort to notify potential customers of their policies, who can then decide whether or not to purchase a ticket from them.

All airlines have a "Contract of Carriage" that you agree to abide by when you purchase a ticket. Most of us don't bother to read it before happily handing over our credit card numbers, but it's there and we are obligated to abide to the parts that apply to us, just like they are obligated to abide to the parts that apply to them. This policy is simply an extension of that contract.

A few people, albeit none of them lawyers, have already stated that you probably don't have a legal basis to go after the airline. But, this is America, and you are welcome to further tie up our already overburdened court system over yet another trivial matter. Most people who are unhappy with Hawaiian Airlines' new policy would simply take their travel dollars elsewhere.

Boy! Talk about a post that not only fails to read my original post but makes unwarranted and biased assumptions about my motives and character. Who twisted your tail?

I simply asked a question. The answer to that question will fill a gap in my knowledge base.

The fact that they are doing a certain thing doesn't make it legal. It is fairly common practice is business to make decisions and take actions that aren't strictly legal; but about which management guesses no one will make a fuss.

By the way your angry tone regarding what "...most people.." would do is a further step into whatever world you inhabit at the moment. Be assured, as this post points out, if I'm upset I'll as clearly as I can state my case, as I have in the past and will do again. I wasn't upset then with Hawaiian Airlines and am not now. Your comments about my motives however...

I see you have nothing in your profile about your occupation. You wouldn't happen to have a financial interest in what Hawaiian Airlines or the credit card industry does would you?

 

[AXL72]

you know, I really like the Jerald/Ron tag team answer posts.

 

[RonDawg]

Boy! Talk about a post that not only fails to read my original post but makes unwarranted and biased assumptions about my motives and character. Who twisted your tail?

I simply asked a question. The answer to that question will fill a gap in my knowledge base.

The fact that they are doing a certain thing doesn't make it legal. It is fairly common practice is business to make decisions and take actions that aren't strictly legal; but about which management guesses no one will make a fuss.

While I had originally wanted to debate you sentence for sentence, as you can see I've decided to edit it out.

You have your notions about the way things work, and there's nothing I can say to change your mind. Heck, I've already tried (as well as others) and you still want to believe want you want to believe. I should have realized that when I pointed out the specific language in the Hawaiian Airlines website, and you still wanted to argue the point.

I will point out something though:

I see you have nothing in your profile about your occupation. You wouldn't happen to have a financial interest in what Hawaiian Airlines or the credit card industry does would you?

Nope, I don't work for Hawaiian nor any other airline nor any part of the airline industry or travel industry or credit card industry for that matter. I have never ever set foot inside of any of Hawaiian's fleet either.

Poke around a bit and you'll see I've had my own issues with a particular airline. I read my Contract of Carriage and realized my beef with them was more along the lines of crummy customer service and not something I could take legal action against. I've posted my whine here and have vowed to never use that airline again. But I wouldn't go as far as suing them either, nor asking for attorney advice, as unhappy as I was with them.

 

[Thalassamania]

Screw the attourneys, here's that the Treasury Department says:

I thought that United States currency was legal tender for all debts. Some businesses or governmental agencies say that they will only accept checks, money orders or credit cards as payment, and others will only accept currency notes in denominations of $20 or smaller. Isn't this illegal?

The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."


This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.