Blumie that was my point - there is no incremental cost to the airlines for booking within 21 days vs greater than 21 days in advance of the flight. This is a fee that never used to exist and in fact was, for me, the best perk of the FF programs - last minute travel.
When I booked this flight, the charge was $75. I suppose it must have gone up in the past couple of months?
Does anyone know how to escalate this within AA? Thanks.