I am wondering if I have any recourse over what happened to me or if this was all entirely my fault.

I was recently deined boarding onto a China Southern flight to Bangkok because my passport expires in 4 months, and Thailand has a six-month validity rule. The decision to deny me came after much confusion on the part of the ticketing staff and manager. They knew of the six-month rule, but apparently it is usually not enforced for US passport holders. The computer at the ticketing counter said I could go, all that was needed a valid passport. The manager checked "the back office" and said she found conflicting information - the 6-month rule is hard and fast. Then the manager checked with other managers of other airlines, and told me they said I could go. She actually issued my boarding pass, and checked in my luggage. THEN she said oh wait, she just got a call from the manager of Thai airlines, who said she should not let me board. So she took the boarding pass back, and retrieved my luggage. This all transpired over about an hour and a half.

I would call this experience an ordeal. I do not feel confident that the airline made the correct/necessary decision given their confusion, and I feel they were acting conservatively at my expense - the airline would get charged a fee if in fact I arrived in Thailand and was deported. My Thailand guidebook (Moon book) did not say anything about a six-mo requirement, though it did talk about visas.

A friend of mine used to work at another airline's ticketing counter (as recently as last year) and said in his experience, they always let US passport holders through to Thailand even if the passport is less than 6 months valid - the customer just has to sign an indemnification.

The ticket was purchased through Orbitz, and is non-refundable. I called Orbitz, who said they could not help and gave me a $50 credit for good will. I now plan to approach the airline - does anyone have advice on what angle, key words, etc to use? I am thinking of appearing in person at the China Southern office. I am pretty sure they will let me at least extend my ticket for 12 mo or so, but can I get any redress/goodwill for my inconvenience, caused by their bungling? Any input would help.