I presume that QIK will not permit a front line agent to touch a BE ticket in order to prevent overrides of exactly what BE fares are supposed not to permit.

This leaves agents unable to help people who get dumped into these fare buckets in error.

It goes without saying that there are people at AA who have the authority to override anything, it is simply that the front line agent has no immediate way to reach that person.

In this limited situation, I am of the view that it will speed things along if people file a DOT complaint when they are improperly dumped into BE. That is because the fare restrictions are not compatible with the commitments made in the e-ticket receipt.

It is critical that the DOT complaint focus on the BE issue and not on service failures and the other miseries associated with IRROPS and that it be clear that the passenger is not complaining about BE as a product.

This is software stuff and avoidable. The question is how AA prioritizes the fix. If DOT nudges, the fix may come sooner.