If AA agreed to the refund, its not a forced refund?
If AA agreed to the refund, why would they have 45 days to respond?
If the full amount of the charge was disputed..why a partial refund..with little or no investigation?

So I just received another refund on my CC in the amount of $1,178.30 which brings the total refunded to $2,821.05. My total charges on AA for my change fees & fare differences were $2,407.90 so not sure what the extra $413.15 refund is for. Maybe the value for the unused AA flights on expedia?

I am still $3600 out of pocket for buying my UA tickets back to MIA but I don't think they would cover that.

If AA agreed to the refund, its not a forced refund?
If AA agreed to the refund, why would they have 45 days to respond?
If the full amount of the charge was disputed..why a partial refund..with little or no investigation?

I do not know the answers to these questions because Chase has not yet called me to explain and I don't want to call prematurely until they are finished with their investigation. I don't even know if these refunds are final yet but I can say though that my CC seems to being doing a very good job at working on my behalf to get through to AA.

Honestly, this could have all been resolved if they had just reaccommodated me on the next available flight. Instead, they wanted $7k for 3 passengers trying to get home after misconnecting a flight. It's pretty much price gouging to me.

They won't cover it without you taking up a fight.

Get a lawyer - and sue them (in the US, preferably)

Can relate to that...at PVG.
In my situation they wanted $5k for one passenger.
After 45 minutes of arguing it got into a "face" issue. Knew then
it was time to move on.

That's a small claims issue. Can't be represented by an attorney in a small claims action, except on appeal.

AA will probably pay the full amount of the damages...seems they are already
piecemeal paying out. Just have to be patient and diligent.

Talked to a lawyer friend about it and he claims it's not worth the legal fees to hire an attorney to fight this and try to get back $4k-$5k in damages.

Read some blogs about people taking airlines to small claims court. Apparently, it's hit or miss. Sometimes the airlines will try to "intimidate" by offering to settle for a smaller amount or threatening that the losing party will be liable for all legal fees. I would also need to file this in the US which I am not currently in.

For me, this has become a principle issue but honestly, it is not realistic for me to even file for small claims court considering I need to be in the US to do so which I am not.

I will continue to update the thread if any changes occur but since I'm not actively pursing more, I doubt any more changes will happen. Thank you all for your valuable feedback and advice. I truly appreciate it and if anyone has any detailed questions about my scenario and how it might apply to them, feel free to message me.