I do agree with some points of view that are not in... agreement with what I expressed in my post and I can offer some "but..." in response:

* In this particular case, if one ticket had been bought instead of two, A3 would have had to pay even more (+ EU 261 comp)
* I agree that, in spite of not doing the "obvious", they did much more than what they were required to; which is why I wrote: ...example of a combination of good service..." in my last sentence.
* "...changing a very restrictive pass ticket to a "regular" ticket on a totally different route..." ZRH-ATH-HER to ZRH-HER is not exactly a totally different route!

Anyway, I will not continue. Thanks to Xandrios for changing the thread's title, but I could not find one that fits better. My excuse is not that (as an ex medic?) I did not consider the term to be a profanity (not worse than... headache), but I even checked the Wiktionary, which, as a second meaning, says: Failing to make a point or reach a conclusion; stifled.