Originally Posted by
windowontheAside
I understood that was the case only for tickets issued in the US. I have fallen foul of this with a ticket issued by AA in the UK, where I discovered that inflexible and non-refundable has the typical meaning used by BA and other airlines.
I've had AA cancel a ticket for me and let me use the credit for future travel, both with an immediate rebooking and with a later rebooking at various times. This was using tickets booked in the UK, paid in GBP either on their website or on the phone with the (excellent) EP helpdesk, for travel originating in the UK. It is critical to retain the ticket number (available in the original payment receipt) to do this, not just the record locator.
I'm not disputing it went worse for you, but my experience has been that I have had the US ticket treatment.