I think discretion to a point. Obviously based on your history with a company and standing with them the levels of discretion many differ.

At the end of the day though we all make mistakes and can't rely on discretion to get us out of our self inflicted situation. A company is not under obligation to provide discretion against their stated policies. Sometimes we just have to accept we c**ked up and move on. If one really feels aggrieved then either take the option of a legal challenge if you think you have been wronged and/or use a different airline which has different polices.