Once they have you off the plane it is, in practice, totally up to them whether and how much and in what specie to pay you. This isn't true of general counterpa

Once they have you off the plane it is, in practice, totally up to them whether and how much and in what specie to pay you. This isn't true of general counterparties but airlines have so many legal "protections" they could muddy the water to the point you'd never come out ahead. That's not to say taking the offer would be a bad idea; just because your expected value isn't nearly $10k doesn't mean it's 0 either.