Wife miscalculated EQMs, was less than 500 short of PLT when returning from a leisure trip over the holidays. Our late flight to SAN on Dec 28 was diverted to ONT, along with several other aircraft. AA ended up offering hotel rooms, created special flights the following day to ferry passengers, reposition aircraft, we instead participated in the Lyft / Uber / taxi brigade home instead. After speaking with several Aadvantage agents, ultimately transferred to a supervisor, she was able to obtain original mileage credit for the repositioning flight, claiming the delay prevented her from taking a mileage run to complete status.

So if you just missed a qualification threshold, have a story to tell, some spare time, I would a couple of attempts to find a compassionate Aadvantage supervisor before spending $500 to $750 to buy status, or giving up on the higher tier.