<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bostonchef:
Show up at the airport two days later and say, sorry, I was sick, now please reaccomodate me?</font>
No, they will not be able to help you if you show up
after the original flight date, because most restricted tickets have no value after the date when the itinerary begins. You would need to be sick on the same day of the flight or beforehand in order to apply the "sickness" clause in the fare rules.
In my family's experience, AA has been very accomodating with illnesses and deaths. When my grandmother died (for real), a family member in NYC took an international flight to go to the funeral and AA waived the change fees and gave her a double upgrade to Int'l F. (And she had no status at the time.)
[This message has been edited by ESpen36 (edited 02-06-2003).]