I did a search but didn't see a thread that addressed this question...

I booked award travel for my family at (or near) the 330 day window. (Saver awards @ 12.5K miles each way per person.) At the time I booked, the only outbound flight at a "reasonable" time had a layover in CLT, so I took it. I keep checking award availability and see that there are now a ton of direct flights, but at the premium award level (25K each way). I called to try and get moved to a direct flight, and am willing to spend the extra miles, but the agent is telling me that I need to cancel my existing reservation and rebook the whole thing and I will be subject to a $100 redeposit fee.

I'm a lowly Gold, so I know I don't get this fee waived liked CPs and Plats, but I would like to think my situation is different (admit it, we all like to think our situations are different ).

Am I really subject to having to cancel and rebook and pay $100 for the privilege? Or is this one of those cases where I need to hang up and try again...and again and again and again?