Thanks for the tip about calling web services rather than the EXP desk. My knee-jerk reaction is to call the EXP desk for everything
so it's good to know when I should look elsewhere for help.
I did email web services, and here is the reply I received:
They also credited my account for the 1,000 miles.
But this just confuses things more. 1) They think it had to do with the fact I was on the west coast, but the web page specifically said it was on hold until 11:59 PM
PDT -- so was that wrong? 2) They said that my fare is guaranteed for 24 hours. As others have pointed out in this thread, I had put the reservation on hold more than 24 hours before I went to actually book it.
So are fares actually guaranteed for 24 hours, or until 11:59 PM on the day after you place the reservation on hold? I'm still not sure... I'll email for clarification again.
I'm satisfied with the outcome in this case, I just want to learn the rules so I don't have problems with this in the future.