Thanks, I'm dealing with BE Customer Service.
Since the certificates were never actually pulled (reroute happened day before we got to the airport), I don't think the DOT refund rule applies. Had the certificates been pulled for boarding passes and THEN we were rerouted to another flight where we could not clear the upgrades, I think I would have stronger footing for such a complaint.
BE is continuing to hide behind the idea that the certificates could, in theory, have been used on another itinerary, even though in practice, I could not do so due to the fare restriction:
Thank you for responding and after careful consideration we will be unable to waive the reinstatement fee as requested. Our awards are issued with an expiration date and may be used prior to expiration on another flight.
I suppose they are expecting me to manufacture another flight on which to apply the certificates (no, I don't require a mileage run to requal this year
). I can take a shot at escalating one more time, but I think this is probably going to be at their discretion. It's certainly customer-unfriendly, but probably within their discretion.