As I understand it, that part of the rules only applies after you have already commenced travel ("after departure"). Unless the rules state otherwise, this doesn't apply if you haven't started travelling, even if that's because you missed the flight on which you had a reservation.I don't think that this is particularly strange for a fully-flexible ticket. Over the decades, airlines have tried various ways of reducing the number of no-shows, including penalties for no-showing, but I think pretty much every attempt at penalties has been quietly abandoned.