Cite as: 513 U. S. 219 (1995)
Opinion of the Court
stipulated. This distinction between what the State dictates and what the airline itself undertakes confines courts, in breach-of-contract actions, to the parties' bargain, with no enlargement or enhancement based on state laws or policies external to the agreement.8
American suggests that plaintiffs' breach-of-contract and Consumer Fraud Act claims differ only in their labels, so that if Fraud Act claims are preempted, contract claims must be preempted as well. See Reply Brief 6. But a breach of contract, without more, "does not amount to a cause of action cognizable under the [Consumer Fraud] Act and the Act should not apply to simple breach of contract claims." Golembiewski v. Hallberg Ins. Agency, Inc., 262 Ill. App. 3d 1082, 1093, 635 N. E. 2d 452, 460 (1st Dist. 1994). The basis for a contract action is the parties' agreement; to succeed under the consumer protection law, one must show not necessarily an agreement, but in all cases, an unfair or deceptive practice.
III
American ultimately argues that even under the position on preemption advanced by the United States—the one we adopt—plaintiffs' claims must fail because they "inescapably depend on state policies that are independent of the intent of the parties." Reply Brief 3. "The state court cannot reach the merits," American contends, "unless it first invalidates or limits [American's] express reservation of the right
8 The United States notes in this regard that "[s]ome state-law principles of contract law . . . might well be preempted to the extent they seek to effectuate the State's public policies, rather than the intent of the parties." Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 28. Because contract law is not at its core "diverse, nonuniform, and confusing," Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., 505 U. S. 504, 529 (1992) (plurality opinion), we see no large risk of nonuniform adjudication inherent in "[s]tate-court enforcement of the terms of a uniform agreement prepared by an airline and entered into with its passengers nationwide." Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 27.
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