Last summer I flew to Washington, while there I was hospitalized for 10 days for pneumonia and the swine flu. I was on a respirator and in quarantine for most of that stay. My family called AA two days before my ticketed return and AA said no exceptions to the change fee. My family asked for and got a supervisor who said the same thing. The supervisor did say that if I could show up at the airport for my ticketed flight I was more than welcome to fly. I'm sure all the other passengers would have liked that. A new ticket ended up being cheaper than changing my existing at the time.

My experience with ticket changes with AA has always been good but always included a change fee, no exception. Unless of course as the previous poster stated, the flight is cancelled or delayed.