Good luck getting fees waived if you're not E or SE. I am lowly nothing. In May got flights YYZ-AMS on LH then CDG-YYZ on AC which would not show up on AE website. I got the same message OP got. When I called in I was told that I had to pay the fee.. no way would it be waived just because I couldn't book on-line. I got a supervisor who eventually waived the fee on one ticket but I still had to pay the call-in fee on the other.