[jimworcs]

You have no chance of a refund, as the airlines operate this policy in order to ensure that they can continue to use byzantine charging mechanisms which exploit their market positions. This is how it works.

AA is dominant in Chicago and so is able to exploit it's position to charge high prices for Chicago routes. However, travellers from other cities have other options and can go via other cities. Therefore, the market works to bring down the cost of that ticket. Therefore, it is often cheaper to fly say from Indianapolis to Frankfurt, via Chicago that to fly from Chicago to Frankfurt on the exact same flight. Years ago, customers realised this and started booking segments they had no intention of flying. What happened? The airlines, instead of adjusting their pricing to be more transparent and fair, adjusted their rules instead "allowing" them to continue to rip off customers and extort money.

Regulation is your only saviour.