Originally Posted by
TipsyMcStagger
It looks like I was credited miles for the CLT - TPA segment as if I'd booked in Economy. I don't fly AA often. I'm not sure how they typically calculate miles but it looks like they made a distinction between segments based on the seat they gave me, not the seat I paid for.
The advice to seek a partial refund is good advice. But to be clear about your question, the
award miles you received are the same regardless of your class -- it's 5 miles per dollar (not counting taxes). That's the same regardless of cabin. What you got slightly fewer of was "elite qualifying miles" (EQMs), but those count only towards elite status, they are not redeemable miles. If you don't plan to come within 300 EQMs of qualifying for a status tier this year, you have no reason to seek original routing credit. Just get the partial refund that you are due. (And while others are correct that AA could technically say your business class fare was no more expensive than
an economy fare, AA has recently been doing pretty good about giving fair refund value for downgrades.)