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?
I understand the desire to maximize the refund. However, had they dropped the award, would you expect zero refund? Basing it on what was paid is fair. And they did sweeten it just a bit.