Persistance pays off.
I sent a secure message a couple of days ago and no answer after 24+ hrs. I sent another last night. This morning I received a reply to the first one and it was worded the same as the one posted above from an Email Service Dept Manager (or something) denying me the difference.
I decided to call this morning. I called MR customer service, spoke to a very nice and friendly rep who told me that was a targeted offer for which I wasn't targeted so I couldn't get the full 100K. I asked if that meant there was nothing to be done, she put me on hold to "check a few things", came back after about 10min and said that even tho I wasn't targeted, she got approval to extend the offer to me for being a longtime cardmember.
I just checked my MR balance and it has an extra 50K points! ^
I have said this before and I will say it again: Amex is awesome. FT is awesome.