Originally Posted by bstndance
Um, well if they didn't exempt international travellers then why would anyone fly AA internationally? I know I wouldn't. I could fly UA, BA, VS, NZ LAX-LHR or AA and pay a fee to checkin in? Too funny.
And thus you hit the nail on the head. Too much gouging + too many connections + too high prices + too poor sevice = too many competitors to keep a lot of people's business.