I'm sure the answer to the question I'm about to ask is in this thread, but i've tried searching and all the answers are from 12/2013 which should be outdated.

Background - I'm US CP, and may be forced to fly AA metal out of DCA now that I'll be traveling to the midwest for work. Looking online to buy a ticket on AA metal from the US website, there doesn't seem to be a way for me to select seats on any of the AA flights. The US website just tells me I need to create an AA account and then select seats on the AA site.

Questions - Is there anything special I need to be sure to do when creating my AA profile to get access to AA MCE or Preferred seats? Do I even need to create a profile to select seats, can I just call the US CP line and have them book my seats on all my flights now?