All of the airlines, depending on the agent you get, can and do make date change exceptions with nonrefundable tickets. I only flew once on a Priceline airline ticket, and I ended up getting double upgraded as well as getting some free upgrades, but it was partially also due to a weather related flight cancellation with an additional overnight stay in the destination city.

I had a standard issue nonrefundable ticket once that I tried like three or four times with different agents to have them reissue it without paying the $100. I had also contacted the airlines customer relations department to no avail. I figured the ticket was jinxing me, so I resigned myself to pay the rediculous $100 change fee and then low and behold without me asking the agent said they were going to waive all the fees and put a note in my record so I wouldn't have any trouble on my return. I told the agent that in the destination they might not want to honor the ticket with the wrong dates, and the comment was made "don't they know you there?"

I was on a flight once and an FA told me that it used to be that friends of airline employees would just book the cheapest ticket they could find, and then someone on the inside of the airline would give them a comp upgrade.

Also in the 90's at one of the airline clubs, a comment was made that "don't quote me on this, but we don't charge change fees in this city." Obviously I have xx the city and the airline out of it, but you get the point about how much discretion they have.

This stuff was extremely widespread in the early to mid 1990's. I suspect with e-tickets and the downfall of the airlines economically it has gond down somewhat in frequency, but all sorts of strange things I'm sure still happen. What about friends of the gate agents? The gate and ticketing agents have an incredible amount of "power" when it comes to these tickets. My sense from reading employee posts prev on FT is that the airlines look the other way largely on it, but if they are out to get somebody (e.g. a ticket agent) they would use the agents waivers against them in trying to fire them.

To your specific point on Priceline airline tickets, if the agent wanted too, what they can do is print your e-ticket. Then you essentially have a paper ticket, and they could accept the paper ticket coupons for the changed flights. This would avoid having to reissue the Priceline e-ticket. Also they certainly have ways in their computer to change Priceline air tickets, e.g. due to weather related cancellations. So again if they tell you they "can't," it means more like "not supposed too" and "won't."

I would also be curious if agents really get in trouble for doing these things, or if stories about agents getting fired for waivers are more urban legends.