Originally Posted by
Stripe
In a word, Yes. They are trying to trick you into taking a credit in lieu of cash. They introduced this in the Spring of 2020 during the deluge of refund requests. Back then the offered credit was for a higher dollar amount than the cash refund, so it was at least worth considering. Unless you are turning right around and booking a new AA trip for at least that amount, there is absolutely no reason to choose trip credit now.
Yah, AA was desperate for cash back then and posting refunds was a massive potential liability. IIRC, they gave you a 25% bonus if you retained the value as credit. Given that I had several business trips I had to cancel, the 25% bonus was a nice kick.