The big eye-opener to me with this thread is that it may be possible to just bypass the ticketing carrier altogether, assuming you come across somebody who knows what they are doing. Clearly, the potential incentive is all on the side of the airline that takes over your booking (and gets to send the invoice) rather than the one who gets invoiced. Airlines have always been reluctant to endorse tickets over to other carriers; if this *A rule really works in practice without endorsement then that is a fantastic benefit. I might start experimenting with this whenever I have time to spare at the airport (although I suspect that, especially in Europe, I would be met with a lot of blank stares).