Similar thing happened to me on DL a few years back. I was booked to Calgary, there to meet up with friends and drive to Edmonton. Asked to be rebooked on a flight to Edmonton so I could meet them there after they drove north and the rest of the day could keep to its original schedule. I think I had DL status at the time, but I don't think that was a factor. They were glad to do it: it helped relieve pressure on the Calgary flights everyone else wanted to get put on.

More recently, AA at DFW rebooked me from Vancouver to Seattle when I missed the last flight to YVR but there was still one to SEA. They even changed my return when I explained that, if I got a rental car at SEA to drive to YVR, it would be very expensive to return it anywhere else.