VICTORIAN CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
civil DIVISION
CIVIL CLAIMS LIST		VCAT REFERENCE NO. C4690/2021
CATCHWORDS	
Airline rewards program: card issued in error: representation of lifetime status; claim for retention of status; no entitlement to  be afforded Lifetime membership.	

APPLICANT	Catriona Wilson	
RESPONDENT	Qantas Airways Limited ACN:009 661 901 t/as Qantas	
WHERE HELD	Melbourne	
BEFORE	S. Burdon-Smith, Senior Member	
HEARING TYPE	Hearing	
DATE OF HEARING	16 June 2022	
DATE OF ORDER	19 December 2022	
CITATION	Wilson v Qantas Airways Limited (Civil Claims) [2022] VCAT 1461	

Order
The application is dismissed.

S. Burdon-Smith 
Senior Member			

APPEARANCES:		
For Applicant	James Wilson	
For Respondents	Christine Wong	

Reasons
1	The applicant has applied for the reinstatement of ‘Lifetime’ membership status of the Qantas Club (the “Club”) which she claims to have been given, or its equivalent in money and points.
2	Qantas denies having afforded the applicant ‘Lifetime’ status of the Club but agrees that the applicant was given a card with ‘Lifetime’ printed on it. This is said to have occurred in error. 
Background
3	The applicant is a member of the Club: a rewards club offering lounge access to its members. The applicant’s membership commenced in 2002 and was offered at the Partner rate.
4	In 2018 the applicant paid her membership renewal for the year commencing in December. It was paid by the redemption of Qantas Frequent Flyer points.
5	In December 2018 the applicant received her new membership card which described her as a ‘Lifetime’ Member. The applicant was excited and pleased having held membership for over 16 years.
6	In March 2019 James Wilson, the applicant’s husband and the primary card holder received his renewed card. His card did not elevate him to Lifetime Member. Mr Wilson contacted Qantas and queried his status and was informed that his wife’s status was the result of a lucky draw.  
7	Mr Wilson and the applicant travelled throughout 2019 without any question as to their Club status. They did not travel in 2020.
8	In March 2021 the applicant used her Club Membership in travel lounges and no issues were raised.
9	In April 2021– on either or both of the 12th or 15th – the applicant again accessed the Club lounge. She was not refused access but her membership was challenged.
10	After a series of telephone conversations between Qantas club staff,  Mr Wilson and Qantas Customer Service the applicant was informed that her membership had expired.
11	The applicant’s membership status was queried by the applicant through the respondent’s complaints mechanism over many months without resolution,
12	In June 2021, the applicant was informed in writing that she did not have Lifetime membership, and that she could renew her Partner membership at a 20% discount, and a waiver of the joining fee.
13	The respondent’s position is they could find no record of a promotion or draw and that the Lifetime benefit could not have been given. Describing the issuance of the Lifetime card as a ‘printing error’, the respondent states that the applicant was provided with the wrong card and documentation. 
Applicant’s evidence and submissions
14	The applicant’s evidence is that she has been a member of the Qantas Club since 2002. She has renewed her membership annually, and last did so using airline loyalty points.
15	The applicant was provided with a new membership card in December 2018, and the inscription on the card where it describes the membership status is clearly ‘LIFETIME’. The applicant did not contact the airline at that time to query the status.
16	The applicant’s husband gave evidence that when he received his replacement card some months later it did not describe him as a ‘LIFETIME’ member. He said that when he contacted the airline service centre he was told that he was not a lifetime member and that his wife’s membership was the result of a special promotion or draw. 
17	The applicant and her husband say that they did not suspect an error until the applicant’s access to the airline lounge was challenged in 2021. She was told that according to the airline record her membership had lapsed. 
18	The applicant’s evidence and that of her husband is that the applicant most frequently travelled with her husband, and was entitled to enter the lounge as his guest. The issue became live when she was travelling independently on family business. The challenge to her long standing membership was, she says, hurtful and embarrassing.
19	The applicant claims that the respondent did not alert her to the mistake or even acknowledge the mistake in a timely way and should honour the allocation of the Lifetime status to her.
20	Alternatively she claims that Qantas should give her the equivalent value in points, or pay compensation of $9,750.00.
Respondent’s evidence
21	Ms Wong said that Qantas found out about the mistake when the applicant’s membership was scanned at a lounge and described as having expired.
22	On discovering the error and in response to the applicant and her husband’s complaints, Qantas offered to allow the applicant to renew her membership without penalty or joining fee, and at a discount. The benefit to the applicant would be that she would not be charged for the period from the expiry of one year after her last renewal.
23	Ms Wong said that the notation of Lifetime status was an error, and that the applicant could not have been accorded with Lifetime membership because that category of membership has not been available for purchase since 2007.
24	Ms Wong was unable to inform the Tribunal as to how the error might have occurred or if it was a singular event.
25	Ms Wong said that the respondent had checked its records and was unable to find any promotion or draw relating to Lifetime Memberships or which accorded members Lifetime Memberships at or around the time that it was purportedly provided to the applicant.
26	Ms Wong said that there are still some Lifetime members with various benefits depending on the time they took up the offer, but that it would not be possible to convert the applicant to a Lifetime member.
27	Ms Wong directed the Tribunal’s attention to what she says is a condition applicable to the applicant’s membership. It is a term of the Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions in the category ‘Member obligations and responsibilities’. The term says- 
7.3(b) Each member is responsible for regularly checking their membership Account and must notify Qantas Loyalty or the applicable partner (as specified by Qantas Loyalty) of an omissions, incorrect entries or other discrepancies within six months of any other transaction (or such other period specified by the partner).
28	Ms Wong did not present the complete terms and conditions as applicable at the time the applicant joined or as amended from time to time. 
Discussion and findings
29	The respondent provided the applicant with a card which appeared to offer her a service in excess of that which she had contracted for. 
30	It is the respondent’s evidence that the card was provided in error.
31	When the applicant’s husband alerted the respondent to the error, he was informed that it was not an error.
32	The respondent did not acknowledge the error until nearly two years after it had been made. It has not informed the applicant or the Tribunal of how the error was made, whether it was an isolated incident or one of many.
33	The respondent’s representations are that Lifetime status is no longer available, and they claim that it was not available to members when the card was issued to the applicant. The respondent’s evidence is that while some members still have Lifetime Member status, their membership is subject to the terms existing at the time they took out membership.
34	The applicant did not subscribe to Life Membership. The applicant subscribed to an annual Partner Membership. When she paid for her renewal in the currency accepted by the respondent, it was under the expectation that she would be a Partner Member for another year. 
35	This is not a situation where the respondent offered a benefit or service and failed to supply it. It was a windfall. As such the applicable law is that which applies to a benefit obtained in error or through a mistake. The mistake vitiates any intention on the part of Qantas to give the benefit to the applicant, and gives Qantas a prima facie entitlement to restitution. While the applicant may have a defence were such a claim to be brought by Qantas, she has failed to establish valid grounds for her to be afforded a benefit to which she was never entitled.
36	The Tribunal finds that the applicant is not entitled to the reliefs sought. 	Consequently the application is dismissed.

S. Burdon-Smith 
Senior Member