I suspect that this boils down to a cultural difference. For example, in most jurisdictions within the U.S. it is illegal for a landlord to collect ongoing rent from a tenant who has quit their lease once the same property has been rented to another party. I realize this is a very different situation, but think this is the same ethos behind U.S. airlines issuing one-year flight credits in most cases for revenue premium cabin tickets once a passenger cancels. Two things can be true at once, and I still see this European practice as rapacious by comparison, even though I take full responsibility for not having done my homework here.