extending cancelled non-refundable ticket
 

I was wondering if the following strategy would allow refunding/extending part of a non-refundable ticket:

I have a cancelled non-refundable ticket expiring in a week. The change fee to book a new flight is $200.

If I use the credit toward a new fully refundable fare and pay for the excess using a credit card, then get a refund on the new ticket, will I get everything back, including the amount of the credit? Or will they refund only the amount paid using the credit card as cash, and the travel credit back to a credit?

I was thinking that I would only be out $200 if they refund everything to the credit card, rather than the entire amount of the cancelled ticket.

If they are anything like AA, the "most restrictive ticket" applies. That means a refundable ticket bought with a non refundable ticket voucher makes your refundable ticket non refundable.

I believe this is your answer.

Yes, if you exchange a nonrefundable ticket for a refundable ticket, the nonrefundable amount remains nonrefundable.

Really? Everybody seems to think that they have come up with a gimmick that the carriers haven't thought of.

Read the fare conditions of any fare you intend to purchase and you will see that the most restrictive conditions of any segment apply to the ticket and that non-refundable credits can never be converted to cash.

Throwing bad money after worse.

Voluntarily, anyway. Of course if a flight cancels you may get a refund on a nonrefundable ticket. Never say never. :)