In my original post I directly quoted a newspaper article - the quotes have been edited out because of copywright concerns.

Basically a couple flew in from Australia to LAX but had their connecting flight to Aspen cancelled due to snow storms in Aspen. They and the other members of their party complained to AA and received free transport to a hotel and vouchers for an overnight stay.

The next day when they arrived for the flight to Aspen they found a smaller plane had been substituted and because it was a full flight they were unable to board - they were rebooked for the next flight out.

They complained to AA - they describe themselves as law students who had the AA rep "cowering" and were offered (and acccepted) 1300 US each as compensation.

Suprising?