Originally Posted by
IAH-OIL-TRASH
Pretty simple - you can ask for refund from UA and buy the AA tickets. You'll probably find out why UA isn't going to endorse your tickets over to them when you see the prices. And yes, it is the norm. None of the 3 legacies make it a routine practice to endorse over to other carriers. There are exceptional cases, but with what's going on at EWR currently, you're not special (unless you have GS status and make a big stink
).
It's also a matter of if AA wants to accept the tickets. Most FIMs are reimbursed between carriers through a clearinghouse at a defined rate by route/class (last time I saw the list, it's more closely tied to distance than anything). AA may not even want the tickets because they wouldn't get full value, or not same as what they'd get just selling the seats themselves (which they likely can with ease it sounds like).