Originally Posted by OhHim

Has anybody deciphered the rules on when gate agents can start assigning EMS/EML for free (or if they even have the ability to do this)?

Got to my gate with a "standby" boarding pass 40 minutes prior to my TPA-BOS flight (10 minutes prior to boarding), asked for my seat (kindly requesting if a window is possible) and was stuck with 24B this AM. When I did this last Thursday, ended up in 1D.

They tried to upsell of a bulkhead which definitely was not worth the $45 for a 3 hour flight due to the uncomfortable dividers, increased TV distance, unresponsive TV controls, and lack of floor leg space.

To add insult to injury:
- I wasn't too happy to see a bunch of non-revenue FAs and pilots sitting in EML seats in rows 1-5 when wandering up mid-flight.
- This was my 15th B6 flight this calendar quarter (enough to qualify for elite on Airtran alone) and their lack of loyalty programs for frequent travelers is a whole other story
- This was a "more expensive than usual" ticket (booked with under a week's notice - hence the lack of seat assignment)
- and of course, 24A and 24C were both 220lb+

Still, debating if I should just bite the bullet and do the one-stop direct on SWA (have a companion pass there) or Airtran (A+ elite earned independently of SWA's new status match program) instead when I encounter this scenario in the future.