While it is easy to poke fun at the OP, this is just one example how bad (and uniquely so) the product packaging of the legacy airline industry is to cater to market needs. This is not unique to AA, of course.

While we might all have, to a certain extent, gotten used to working with the system and propping up the idiosyncratic pricing and rules and even benefitted in some cases, that does not negate the absurdity of the airline packaging/pricing system.