I agree with this evaluation of the situation. A little over a year ago, I bought a ticket EWR-ORD-EWR. Before leaving on that trip, I learned that I had to go somewhere else before heading home, so I bought a new ticket ORD - xxx (can't recall) - EWR. The original ORD-EWR segment was unused. I cancelled my reservation before departure so that the ticket would retain its value -- which turned out to be zero.

Throughout the next year, I kept looking for a situation where I could buy a one-way ticket to Chicago and use the unused return to get back -- and have the combination (including the $150 change fee) cost less than simply buying a round-trip ticket. It never happened. The year went by, and the original ticket expired. The same thing is likely to occur in this case, unless the traveler makes some expensive, last-minute trips (which I seldom do).

Bruce