Was scheduled to fly ORD-West Coast on Sunday night. After the Thunderstorms in the morning, ORD was a mess for the rest of the day. My flight was delayed 2.5 hours and then ultimately canceled. I was auto-booked to 2:49pm departure the next day and went from upgraded F to economy. Instead, I booked a last minute Alaska Airlines ticket on Sunday night to get me out as I had a meeting in SF first thing on Monday morning.
I called and got a refund, and also sent in an email to request original routing credit.
Today I get a phone call from someone at AA telling me she won't give me the ORC because I got a refund for my ticket
She offered me 2K RDMs (yes, TWO measly thousand). I told her I was not interested in that (I have ~500K already) and I just wanted the EQMs for status - nothing more. She refused, saying "you didn't actually fly with us." To which I replied "I wanted to, but you guys canceled the flight!" <facepalm>
Anyways, the conversation went nowhere. And it was just another datapoint that I've made an excellent decision by moving all of my flying to Alaska where possible (I fly mostly ORD-West Coast) - 8 flights in the last 2 months. With another AS roundtrip booked next week.
What I don't understand is, why? I have had this EXACT same scenario AT LEAST 10 times in recent years and each time I've gotten refunded and given ORC when requested. In fact, I usually get a phone call apologizing and telling me that it's no problem. Heck, this is my third AA cancellation this year already.
Did I just get super unlucky, or is AA really hellbent on creating the most customer-unfriendly airline on the planet?
Anyone else with similar/different experiences?