The adventurous option would be to drive to LAX and fly out of there = ) Maybe ask one of the rental companies if they want to move one of their cars to LAX from LAS, give you a good rate on the rental.

Also, it is not Europe so petrol is cheap there!

I think any passenger who reads FT and is persistent enough to really want to get home would have found a way one way or another, without costing too much money, certainly not more than the 600 EUR compo you are going to get anyway!