Originally Posted by
CO FF
Does this impact non-AA OW top-tiers who are on international connections?
No, it doesn't appear to.
Originally Posted by
CO FF
If not, it seems to me to be designed to take away an incentive for a USA-based passenger to make a non-AA program his program of choice...
Precisely. Which makes it understandable. But it's still bad news for the many OW elites who take "domestic" flights during business and leisure trips to the USA. AA elites, meanwhile, can still use e.g. BA lounges in Europe.