Thank you all also.

The end of my story is that I called customer service to ask for a refund for the Boston - JFK leg that was cancelled (I was booked AUS - JFK, and rerouted to Boston). I was offered a $59 credit for that leg and when I asked how that fare was calculated and what relationship it had to either my costs to get me to the city I was booked or to my original ticket, the supervisor got more than nasty. First time in a long time I hung up on a customer service person.

My question to you - if I was on American, Delta, US Air - and their flight was cancelled because of 'weather' but another airline was flying to my destination, would my original airline protect me on the flight that was flying? What I am asking is - generally - if I avoid a low cost airline (JetBlue, Southwest) would I do any better in this case? Sorry if this is off topic.