You were not on a full fare economy ticket - regardless of what you were rebooked into - and therefore did not qualify for the guaranteed economy seat benefit. End if story.
Maybe you are right, however, I send the same information (ask about guaranteed seat in re-booked Y ticket, and told them I have to took another carrier back to NY) to AA CS, I got the response below.
Pls note: It looks like a generic response. I never asked for compensation since it's caused by weather, just a general question "why not", they gave me 2x $150 vochure, plus ticket refund. That's why I don't want to end the story so soon. YMMV
December 30, 2010
Dear Mr. xxx:
Thank you for contacting American Airlines Customer Relations. I am pleased to respond to your inquiry.
We are very sorry that your trip did not go smoothly. On-time performance is very important to us and when we can't get our customers to their destinations as planned, it's disappointing to all of us. After reading the details of your experience, there is no question that the delay of your flight was frustrating -- bad weather can really cause difficulties for everyone concerned.
When the weather is inclement, we just don't have very many options to make the situation better. Still, your comments help us understand how we could have made this experience a little less frustrating, and we have sent a copy of your letter to the appropriate management staff. We will learn from your criticism and use it to do a better job the next time inclement weather interferes with our operation.
We want you to know that we care about the negative impact this had on your trip. Therefore, we've made arrangements for eVouchers to be sent to each of you (via separate emails) to use toward the purchase of tickets to travel with us. While this is not exactly what you suggested, we hope you will accept our gesture of goodwill.
In view of the details you recounted, we've authorized personnel in our Passenger Refunds department to issue the applicable credit for the unused portion of your tickets. Once the adjustment is calculated by the accounting specialists in that department, a credit will be issued to your credit card account. Please look for that transaction on your statement (this could take up to two billing cycles). In addition, you can track the status of your refund via AA.com at the following link:
https://www.refunds.aa.com/
Should you need to contact personnel in our Passenger Refunds department directly, the address and phone number are:
American Airlines Inc.
Passenger Refund Services
P.O. Box 200025
El Paso, TX 88520-9905
(918) 254-3777
(918) 254-3967 (FAX)
Mr. xxx, again, we are sorry that your plans had to be changed. However, we hope we have persuaded you to think more favorably of us; we are eager for another chance to serve you. We are confident we will restore your trust in us.
Sincerely,
xxx
Customer Relations
American Airlines