National Aquarium Lawsuit: The $4.95 Online Ticket Fee
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The National Aquarium lawsuit in the news is Matvey v. National Aquarium, Inc., a proposed class action over a $4.95 “Transaction Fee” added to online ticket orders. It was filed on May 14, 2026 — the headlines came in late August, months later. It covers only people in Washington, D.C. There is no settlement, no fund and no claim form.
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Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
What the Lawsuit Says
Two Washington, D.C. residents who bought tickets on the aquarium's website in August 2025 and September 2025 allege that every online sale carries “an unavoidable, hidden $4.95 ‘Transaction Fee’” that is not part of the advertised ticket price.
According to the complaint, the fee appears only after a buyer has picked a date and time, looked at add-on experiences and clicked through a multi-page checkout. The lawsuit calls this drip pricing and alleges the aquarium has “extracted millions of dollars from consumers beyond the prices it advertised.” These are allegations; no court has found them true.
There is one claim, under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act, D.C. Code § 28-3901 et seq. The plaintiffs ask for actual damages, the greater of treble damages or $1,500 per violation in statutory damages, punitive damages, an injunction and attorneys' fees.
Case Details
Matvey v. National Aquarium, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-01912, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, assigned to Judge Adam B. Abelson. The aquarium is headquartered in Baltimore; the plaintiffs live in D.C., and the case is in federal court on diversity jurisdiction. The complaint says more than $5 million is at stake and estimates “at least 3,500 tickets” sold to class members.
Our September 2026 case report found this is a second attempt: an earlier case over the same fee, Aguilar-Leigh v. National Aquarium, No. C-24-CV-25-008307, was dismissed by the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on March 11, 2026. The two D.C. plaintiffs were part of that case too.
Status: Motion to Dismiss Pending, No Settlement
As of October 2026 we have not seen a ruling, and we could not re-check the docket for this update. No class has been certified. There is no settlement, no administrator, no claim form and no deadline for consumers.
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There's no claim deadline yet. We'll email you if a settlement opens a claim period.
Who Is in the Proposed Class
The complaint defines the class narrowly: people within the District of Columbia who bought a ticket on cart.aqua.org (or another aquarium-controlled ticket site) where the mandatory fees were not included in the first price shown. Maryland, Virginia and other visitors are not in this proposed class.
A proposed class is only what the plaintiffs ask for. It does not exist unless the judge certifies it, and the case first has to survive the motion to dismiss. There is nothing to sign up for. If a class is ever certified or a settlement approved, notice would come from a court-appointed administrator.
Worth keeping now: your aquarium order confirmation e-mail, which shows the date and the fee you paid.
Is There Any Money?
For a sense of what venue-fee cases elsewhere have produced, see our case report, and use the payout calculator to see how fund size and claim rates translate into per-person amounts.
How cases like this one end
Our copy of the federal courts’ own case database covers 111,990 other personal injury casesclosed in U.S. federal district courts between 2015 and 2025, 3.6% of them filed as class actions:
- 39.9% ended in a settlement recorded by the court. Another 13.8% were dismissed voluntarily, which often follows a private settlement — so the real settlement share sits between 39.9% and 53.7%.
- 5.7% were decided on a motion before any trial.
- 1 in 106 reached a trial (0.9%), after a median of 23.9 months.
- Median time from filing to the end of the case: 9 months.
- Only 771 of them (0.7%) record a money award at all; the median of those is $500,000.
These are base rates for this type of case (other personal injury, as coded on the docket) — not a prediction about this lawsuit, and not legal advice. Source: Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (civil), analysed by Settlement Insight. Cases heard in state courts are not included.
National Aquarium Lawsuit Timeline
- 1
August–September 2025 — The Ticket Purchases
The two D.C. plaintiffs buy aquarium tickets online and, they allege, see the $4.95 Transaction Fee only late in checkout.
- 2
March 11, 2026 — State Case Dismissed
Per our case report, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City dismisses an earlier suit over the same fee, Aguilar-Leigh v. National Aquarium.
- 3
May 14, 2026 — Federal Class Action Filed
Matvey v. National Aquarium, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-01912, is filed in the District of Maryland under the D.C. consumer-protection law.
- 4
August 3, 2026 — Response Deadline
The aquarium's extended deadline to respond. Per our September review of the docket, it moved to dismiss that day.
- 5
August 27, 2026 — The Headlines
Legal news sites report the case as new, prompting the current wave of searches. The case itself was already more than three months old.
- 6
Early September 2026 — Awaiting a Ruling
No ruling on the motion to dismiss had been seen as of this update. No class, no settlement, no claim form.
Three Things to Watch For
A headline about a well-known attraction and a small fee is easy bait:
“Claim your National Aquarium refund” pages
There is no settlement and no claims site. A page asking for your card number or aquarium login to “refund the $4.95 fee” is phishing, not a court process.
Fake e-mails styled as aquarium order messages
Scammers copy the look of ticket confirmations. The real aquarium ticket store is cart.aqua.org; check the sender's domain and do not open links in unexpected “fee refund” e-mails.
“Add me” comments and sign-up forms
Posting your details under a news article or a lead form does not put you in the class. If a class is ever certified, the court-approved notice will say exactly how it works — and a real administrator never charges a fee.
National Aquarium Lawsuit — Common Questions
What is the National Aquarium lawsuit about?
A proposed class action alleging the aquarium's website adds a mandatory $4.95 “Transaction Fee” to online ticket orders that is not shown in the advertised price and only appears late in checkout. The aquarium has moved to dismiss the case.
Is there a National Aquarium settlement or claim form?
No. As of our last docket review in early September 2026, there is no settlement, no fund, no administrator and no claim form, and the case is at the motion-to-dismiss stage. We could not re-check the docket after that.
I bought tickets online. Am I part of the case?
Only if you were in the District of Columbia when you bought, under the proposed class definition. Buyers elsewhere are not covered by this lawsuit. Even D.C. buyers are only in a class if the judge certifies one.
Why is a Baltimore aquarium being sued under D.C. law?
Both plaintiffs live in D.C., and the aquarium markets to D.C. visitors. The case is in Maryland federal court because the aquarium is based in Baltimore. An earlier case over the same fee, brought in a Maryland state court, was dismissed on March 11, 2026, per our case report.
How much could I get?
Nothing is payable, and nobody can say whether anything ever will be. The complaint asks for $1,500 per violation in statutory damages, but that is a demand, not a likely outcome.
Doesn't the FTC junk-fee rule ban this?
The FTC rule (16 C.F.R. Part 464) covers live-event tickets and short-term lodging, and it gives consumers no right to sue. That is why this case relies on the D.C. statute instead. Our case report walks through the rule's text.
Who is the judge, and what happens next?
Judge Adam B. Abelson of the District of Maryland. The next step is a ruling on the aquarium's motion to dismiss. If the case survives, it moves to discovery and, later, a class-certification fight.
What should I do right now?
Nothing is required. Keep your ticket confirmation e-mail, ignore anyone offering to “file” for you, and check our list of open class action settlements for cases that actually take claims today.
Separate from this case: were you injured in the last 2 years?
Class-action payouts are fixed amounts through an administrator. A personal injury claim is a different case — and often worth far more. Free estimate, no obligation.
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