I wasn't talking about in/out of Texas. AA added the flights to help people get out. What I am talking about is a Friday morning trip from DCA to SAN.

Lots of options more the NW and DL. Another option is CO FF partner Alaska. Possible to fly DCA-LAX non-stop on Alaska Airlines, then LAX-SAN on AA Eagle, another CO codeshare partner. It likely is my fault for not suggesting these other options. In my case, the Plat Elite line only checked for CO flights.

Again, I would like to know the FAA rules. If UA would take the fare (which they do out of ORD), then no loss to CO - they already loss by refunding the money. UA flies non-stop IAD-SAN so that could have been an option. I doubt the nonstops BWI or IAD to SAN were impacted much by the loss of the IAH flights.