Chamber project could change rules for airline miles programs

With the resumption of legislative work next week, the Chamber of Deputies can now vote on Bill 2667/2023, which provides for a series of changes to the rules of frequent flyer programs, such as, for example, making points imprescriptible, i.e. without an expiration date, authorize its sale and even transfer as an inheritance to other people, in addition to prohibiting the charging of additional fees by airlines, such as for issuing tickets.

On December 19 of last year, the rapporteur of the proposal in the Plenary, deputy Jorge Braz (Republicanos-RJ), presented a favorable opinion from the Road and Transport and Consumer Protection Committees; as well as the assessment of the constitutionality, legality and good technique of the proposal by the Constitution and Justice Commission. Thus, on the 21st of the same month, the Plenary approved the urgency request for processing the proposal, allowing the text to be voted on without having to undergo individual analysis by each Committee.

The parliamentarian told the newspaper Economic value which, next week, will present another report, extending the rules to all frequent flyer and loyalty programs, such as those at gas stations, supermarkets, retailers and banking institutions. Braz said that he received the airlines and that one of the criticisms they made of the proposal was that only their programs would be affected. “It would be unfair. So we are going to propose a new opinion with all loyalty programs”, he highlighted.

The issue gained notoriety with the default by 123milhas by not providing airline tickets purchased by thousands of consumers. The company sold long-term tickets, but only issued tickets close to the travel dates, at a flexible rate. The case was investigated by the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on Financial Pyramids with Cryptoassets, whose report called for the indictment of the company’s owners, in addition to proposing a Bill to deal with the regulation of frequent flyer and loyalty programs.

In order to prevent circumstances like this from occurring again, the deputy will also determine in his report that the sale/transfer of points cannot occur under the promise of future delivery of the service. In other words, the buyer will have the right to receive benefits at the time of purchase.

PL 2667/2023, which is authored by deputy Amom Mandel (Cidadania-AM), is being evaluated simultaneously with other proposals that deal with the same topic, PL 4.880/23, by Celso Russomanno (Republicanos-SP); PL 4,934/23, from the Cryptocurrency CPI; and PL 5.601/23, by Saulo Pedroso (PSD-SP).

Airlines see problems with proposal

In a statement, the Brazilian Association of Companies in the Loyalty Market (Abemf) argued that the sector should be self-regulated and asked for a more in-depth debate to be held on the bill. The entity argues that the initiatives proposed in PL 2667/2023 could make loyalty and mileage programs unfeasible.

A fundamental point of the discussion is the greater control that the new rule offers to “point” owners. As explained in the report on the proposal, miles and points are true assets, sold directly by airlines and intermediary companies, not just bonuses offered free of charge to consumers. Braz argues that, because they are similar to “money”, points and miles cannot be prescribed, for example.

The companies claim that the imposition of free commercialization of points would result in a series of losses for the participant, including the loss of the bonus and loyalty characteristics of the programs, which would make the business model itself unviable. Abemf also argues that permission to sell points would be a breach of contract, capable of creating an imbalance between loyalty companies and intermediaries.

The Association states that, by making the validity of miles/points imprescriptible, the proposal even goes so far as to contradict the very nature of the Brazilian legal system, which establishes prescription periods for tax, labor, consumer and human rights issues. and civil obligations in general. The entity also criticizes the proposals to limit the points needed to redeem products and the minimum waiting period of six months for changes to program rules to come into force.

Lawyer and specialist in aeronautical law Carlos Duque-Estrada, told Value that the approval of the project will be “highly beneficial for the consumer” because it adapts Brazilian programs to global standards. “In American and European companies, miles do not expire if you use at least part of them within a period of 24 to 36 months.” Another point he highlights are the limitations on the number of seats that can be purchased with miles. Taken together, the measures are responsible for the majority of consumers not being able to use the miles.