I agree with others in that many people seem to be looking a gift horse in the mouth. Platinum Pro didn't exist last year, full stop. If you traveled beyond the Platinum qualification requirements and didn't reach Executive Platinum, you had no expectation of being a higher status, full stop. AA is being quite generous in giving you a status that you couldn't, by definition, qualify for last year now for a cost.

Put another way, no one gave AA incremental business last year in hopes of getting Platinum Pro now at no cost because it was, again, not possible. To complain about having the opportunity to skip a year's worth of flying and get benefits you are, AGAIN, not entitled to is mind boggling.
​​​