Did your friend quote the AA number. AS the status was matched to AA Platinum, it will show up as OW Saphire. So maybe it was not the TWA card that magically opened the gates but the AA Aadvantage number (since the OW partners are now electronically linked to check your OW status in real-time).

The above is based on observation and speculation and not based on inside knowledge of how the system works. I am open to being corrected.