I got told the same thing on a schedule change about a month ago. Flight out of Boston moved up about an hour, and I'd already commited to meetings through the end of the day.

I figured that as long as I could change it due to the schedule change, and I'd have to overnight in any case, I'd put in a full day at my client's office that next day and attend a 11-1pm meeting in person instead of calling in from back in Colorado.

So I asked to be put on the same flight as the schedule change (around 4:30 IIRC) the following day. No way. They insisted that I had to take the first flight of the day the next morning if the rescheduled flight was too early for me. I kept explaining how if I had to spend another hotel night due to their change, I wanted to get a full day's value out of it. After much gnashing of teeth and putting me on hold to check with a supervisor, they allowed me onto a 2:30 or thereabouts flight - reminding me that this was a special favor and wasn't their policy.

So it seems AA is getting tough about schedule changes allowing you to make any change you want. Just another reason why, except for occassional really good fares, they're my last choice in travel. Granted I don't have status on AA or any other ow partner. But even when I didn't have status on UA or NW I don't remember them being that tough about changes.