I booked a trip for my brother on the phone yesterday. AA.com wouldn't let me do it once SWUs were applied which is why I was calling. The agent said she would waive the $25 booking fee in light of that.

After getting the e-ticket I saw we were charged the $25. I e-mailed CS politely for a refund since it was supposed to be waived.

I got a response today. They're refunding it but what struck me as odd is the reason:

"Thank you for contacting Customer Relations. We are sorry for the confusion over the $25.00 service fee charged in error. According to the policies and procedures for Business Extraa (sic) customers, no service fee is applicable when making a reservation. In view of these details, we've authorized personnel in our Passenger Refunds department to issue a $25.00 credit back to the original form of payment used."

I know that there is no phone booking fee for BE awards, but a waiver of a regular (non-BE) booking fee just for being a BE member? Or were they just looking for a polite way out?