I just got a call back from NW. Jason (the one that helped me) called to say that they have agreed to refund the ticket amount. He did make a comment that if I wasnt a PE that this would have been almost impossible without the original printed screen from the web site (which I cant seem to find but I know it is somewhere).

So kudos to NW for treating their top customers like valued assets! I was considering a change to UA next year, but I just threw that idea out the window.