This is tangentially related, but I just received a phone call from AA CS to follow up about a complaint I made the other day and one of the points that came up was that reps don’t have much control over what they write. The software makes them use canned phrases and specific syntax to “make the email flow better and seem more professional,” which even she admitted often has the total opposite effect. This helps explain the less-than-stellar email OP received.

However, I, too, would happily trade a meal for 15k miles.