Thanks for the replies. I happened to open the itinerary on the site, and found that where I had lucked into an exit row on the first flight, they now just had a "Select Seat" link. The only seat available was 36-B, the middle seat in the bulkhead behind the galley. I took that; I'm coordinating my arrival with other people and really don't want to be bumped. I suppose I'll keep checking for better seats (this is under two weeks from now), especially when check-in opens at T-24; if no better seat opens up I'll wait until I'm at the airport to complete check-in, and if I'm stuck in that seat I might as well check the bag, much as I dislike the thought of the fee.

I mentioned in another thread that my initial first flight was removed from the schedule, and there is a link allowing me to change my flights; is this at no fee? I've been interested in a connection through MEM in the same time frame. I get error messages when trying to change to it online; would it work by phone? This is on CRJs, less comfortable but I guess allowing valet checking of the bag. The seat maps just show Preferred seats; do you think I can get confirmed seat assignments by phone? I'll appreciate any thoughts.