Originally Posted by
platbrownguy
It's easier in this case than in the average case. Presumably the passenger here could show that AA paid for her return on BA & DL, and that AA did that only upon proof that it deemed satisfactory (at least for that purpose) that the passenger was on the first AA flight. So AA would be stuck having to explain why the passenger's proof was good enough to get a free flight (which I would imagine actually cost AA more than a few hundred bucks) but now is worthless.
Not necessarily.
It is fairly routine for AA, and other US carriers, to rebook passengers when the COC and fare rules would permit the carrier to simply cancel the ticket. Maybe it is bad practice, but the fact that a front line agent accepted a passenger's version for rebooking purposes does not mean much.
It might actually make AA look decent in front of a judge used to hearing stories about European carriers in this situation.