I had a one-way F class reward ticket flying DPS-KUL-HKG-BOS in August 2016. The ticket was purchased using the old award table, so cost 67,500 miles. I flew DPS-KUL in MH economy as there were no award seats available in C class (2 cabin plane) and KUL-HKG in MH C class (again 2 cabin plane). For HKG-BOS though, I was booked in CX F class. 2 hours before boarding though, CX swapped equipment resulting in a 2 cabin configuration. They apologized and downgraded me to C class. Since I was on an award ticket, CX could not adjust my fare and told me to follow up with AA.

I wrote AA customer service asking for compensation. They routed it to AAdvantage customer service who never replied, so after 2+ weeks I contacted AAdvantage customer service. They gave me a refund of 12,500 miles (the difference between a C and F class award when I ticketed) plus 10k miles as a courtesy. I complained saying that the current award table, and the one in force when I actually flew, showed a 40k difference between C and F class for that routing and so I felt I was entitled to 40k so that I can get the equivalent value in the future. AAdvantage customer service didn't budge and were firm while being polite.

Do you think the 12.5k was fair or was I entitled to the 40k difference I was seeking based on the award table as of flight date?