An $8 payment is not much on its own, but about 1.4 million Californians are in line for one. OpenClassActions counts 1,405,235 people in the class. Anyone charged an online processing fee on tickets to Knott’s Berry Farm, Knott’s Soak City or California’s Great America between June 28, 2020 and July 1, 2024 is covered. Cash goes only to those who file a claim by December 22.
Credit by default, cash only on request
The settlement is Isayan v. Cedar Fair L.P., case 24STCV16212 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The official settlement site says each participating class member receives $8.00. Class members who do nothing get that $8 as a credit toward a purchase on sixflags.com.
A class member who submits a timely, valid claim form gets the $8 by electronic payment or, on request, by check. OpenClassActions, a tracker of these cases, lists virtual prepaid card, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle and check as the options. It adds that a check left uncashed for 180 days is voided and the person then receives the credit instead.
Doing nothing has a price beyond the lost cash. The settlement site says people who take the credit give up the right to bring the covered processing-fee claims against Six Flags. Opting out avoids that, but opt-outs receive nothing.
The credit comes with its own limits. OpenClassActions says it is single-use, transferable and without blackout dates, and that it expires 36 months after it is issued. A voucher that must be spent in one purchase on one website is worth less to a visitor who never plans to return.
Retirement deadlines, in your inbox: Miss an enrollment or claim deadline and the money can be gone. Join the Retirement Money Brief and we’ll send you our Open Settlements & Refund Tracker as a welcome gift.
Get the Brief + the settlements tracker →
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
The credit is emailed to the notice address, the tracker says, so the email address used on the original ticket order matters. A class member who changed addresses since a visit between 2020 and 2024 should look in old accounts and spam folders for the notice before the December 22 date passes.
Who is in the class and what the lawsuit said
The class is Californians who bought non-season tickets through knotts.com or cagreatamerica.com and paid a processing fee in that window. OpenClassActions reports that a California billing ZIP code counts and that season passes and tickets bought at the park are excluded. The $8 is a flat amount per person, whatever the number of tickets or orders.
The suit was filed June 28, 2024 against Cedar Fair L.P., Cedar Fair Management Inc. and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, per the same tracker. It alleged the processing fee was a hidden “junk fee” not adequately disclosed until checkout, in violation of California’s unfair competition and false advertising laws. The parks stopped charging the fee on July 1, 2024, and Six Flags denies wrongdoing.
The settlement is a compromise, and the court has not ruled on the merits. Objections go to the administrator in writing or can be raised in person at the hearing, the tracker adds. Preliminary approval came on September 17, 2026. Final approval is set for a hearing on March 30, 2027 at 10:00 a.m., the tracker reports.
What to file by December 22, and who gets extra time
Claims can be filed online or by mail postmarked by December 22, 2026. The claim page is on the settlement site. OpenClassActions says no receipt is required, but the online form asks for the Notice ID and Confirmation Code from the emailed notice.
Anyone who received a second email notice gets more time. The settlement site’s FAQ says the claim deadline, and the opt-out deadline, run for 60 days after that second email arrives. A person who got a late reminder should count 60 days from the date on it rather than use December 22.
People who never received a notice are not shut out. The tracker says they can contact the administrator, Angeion Group, with proof of a qualifying fee. The settlement site’s contact page is the place to start.
Where the money comes from, and when it moves
The tracker puts the total at about $11.2 million in cash and credits at $8 each, so the real cash outlay depends on how many people claim it. Class counsel can seek up to $1,962,329 in fees, the plaintiff up to $10,000, and administration up to $89,500. Those amounts are paid by the defendants and are not taken out of the $8.
Payment timing is not on the settlement site. OpenClassActions says payments go out within 45 days after the judgment becomes final, which follows the March 30, 2027 hearing, and the fee and final approval motions are due February 8, 2027. Cash, in other words, is a 2027 event.
The tracker puts the average processing fee on a first purchase at about $8.07, which makes the $8 award close to a refund of one fee. The decision left for each class member is whether a spendable cash payment is worth a few minutes at a claim form.
Want the $8 as cash instead of a Six Flags credit?
The default in this case is a credit, and the cash goes only to people who file before December 22. A claimant who reads the notice loosely and files nothing ends up with a voucher good only on sixflags.com, plus a release of the fee claims against Six Flags.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System teaches the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice and gives a step-by-step filing walkthrough, so the claim date and the opt-out date are never confused. A claim log and payment tracker then keeps the Knott’s claim, its confirmation and the payout in one place beside any other open claim.
Get the notice-reading rule and filing walkthrough in the settlement tracker →
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- The New $6,000 Senior Deduction and 14 More Tax Moves for Retirees
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
