many of us bought non-flex tix after the 15th, so officially they will offer a refund if cancelled. whats the science in switching sales to "flex-only" now? either way, tickets sold today have the same rules as those sold anytime after the 15th?
It's the fact that they don't have to offer the refund yet, since they didn't officially cancel the flight. You have a hard time claiming insurance or a refund when the flight isn't officially cancelled. The Flex route has been a indicator that Air Berlin will be cancelling the route, you can run a few checks and find that has been the case with how the blogs and media surmised that Sept 25th was the date many routes were ending, even before the official announcement. When people called (myself included) the rep insisted the flight was still operating in October, and even if it was cancelled, they would be rebooked on another airline. Obviously that turned out to be a false statement, but the flex fare only has been correct every time.
It doesn't seem like LH is taking over their long haul routes, so I wouldn't bank on them picking up the bookings. There's a reason they waited until the bids were in on 9/15 before sending out the mass cancellation emails. The bids likely didn't include taking on the bookings, which would be a liability on the books. I know I wouldn't take it on, unless I was forced to as a condition of the bidding process.