Rover75

The disclosure language at the AA website says:

A $150 USD charge or additional miles will apply for a change to an eligible origin or destination on a MileSAAver or AAnytime award, (waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account).

It turns out that "eligible origin or destination" includes any and all intermediate points on a multi-segment trip.

I discovered this recently when-- after a schedule change-- I attempted to change the flights for an upcoming trip from Boston to Berlin that my wife and I are taking next year using AAdvantage mies. We are currently booked BOS-LGA/JFK-TXL. For my wife (who is not EXP and uses her own miles) to rebook BOS-JFK-TXL, she will have to pay a $150 change fee.

(I specifically asked no fewer than three separate EXP agents whether this would mean a change fee was applicable if -- for example -- a non-Executive Platinum flyer changed an award itinerary from BOS-ORD-LAX to BOS-DFW-LAX. Everytime the answers was "yes, the fee would apply".)

While I think the rule is annoying, I am actually more disturbed that the disclosure is not transparent. To me "origin" and "destination" simply do not describe the intermediate transfer points on a multi-segment itinerary issued from a single award. But I am wrong.

Am I just late to the party? Do most AA frequent flyers understand that that is what AA means by "eligible origin or destination"?