ROW2Aisle,

As a rule, I would not bank on it but I have had good luck with CX, AA and BA in "bending" the rules whenever there was a schedule change or unusual inventory problems. They are least reluctant to help if the schedule change is on open sectors (unless it limits you - I had QF SIN-BOM once and QF stopped flying; so they acommodated SIN-BKK-BOM on CX).

I have had CX in SFO issue me multi-segments in place of single segment and waive the change fee (or potential constraint of segment limits in continent of origin). THis was to accommodate seat availability on the direct flt (not even a schedule change). It was a First OWE and I was a OW Emerald. The CX F agent and the web agent in SFO seemed to know his systems very well and had authority/tech skills to do what he wanted. I found that experienced agents of AA and BA in hub-cities had a lot of pull (they would pick up the phone and request special auth from someone) for deviating from the OWE rules and accommodated premier passengers.

These experiences are more than 6 months old. OWE seems to be getting less and less respect within some OW airlines (AA) so I am not sure what your mileage will be.