Six Flags settles hidden-fee suit for $11.2M, $8 back for parkgoers

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has agreed to pay $11.2 million to settle claims that it tacked undisclosed processing fees onto online ticket sales. The company admitted no wrongdoing as part of the deal, which covers an estimated 1,405,235 customers, according to People. A final approval hearing is set for March 30, 2027.

To qualify, you had to buy non-season admission tickets online for Knott's Berry Farm or its Soak City water park, or California's Great America, between June 28, 2020, and July 1, 2024. You also needed a California ZIP code as your billing address and to have actually paid a processing fee. Season passes are left out of the settlement entirely.

Eligible buyers get $8 each. Anyone who wants it in cash must file a valid claim form through the official settlement website by December 22. Skip the paperwork and you automatically receive an $8 credit for a future purchase at any Six Flags park through the company's website. Those vouchers expire 36 months after they're issued.

The case started in June 2024, when Sargis Isayan filed a class-action lawsuit in Los Angeles against Cedar Fair. He accused the park operator of the 'unlawful practice of drip pricing,' per court documents obtained by People, alleging shoppers saw one price before a processing fee surfaced later in checkout. The suit argued the fee bought customers nothing and that buyers were less likely to bail after already picking their tickets — leaving them paying more than the advertised price. California law requires such fees to be disclosed upfront. Cedar Fair merged with Six Flags in July 2024.

The Independent said it contacted Six Flags for comment. The settlement lands alongside a stack of other legal trouble: more than 150 expected claims alleging brain injuries tied to the X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, and three federal lawsuits over riders allegedly ejected from attractions at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Last week, Six Flags said California's Great America will close after the 2027 season when its lease on the 112-acre property expires — land Cedar Fair sold to Prologis for $310 million in 2022.