I do wonder how many people have actually coughed up a credit card number to get a seat assignment since this policy has been in place. Five? It seems pretty stupid, if they're trying to reduce the load on the phone agents, it seems counterproductive. I bet by the time someone calls up, asks for the seat request, has the policy explained to them (likely more than once because it's so silly) and then declines to pay, it's already taken more of the agent's time than had s/he just assigned the seat in the first place.