No, the original Select Seating concept was based on

• reserving the forward section of the Y cabin for elites and full-fare pax
  
  
• keeping the middle seats in that section free, if at all possible.

Whether it worked or not was completely hit and miss from day one, as check-in agents and just about every else could override the system and assigns seats anywhere to whomever they wanted to. Certain outstations consistently did a lot better than others, with AMS at the bottom of the heap.

I can recall flights where it actually worked as advertised, with lots of open seats and even whole rows towards the front, and the back of the plane packed, but not too many.

Johan