I'm flying to JFK in WT+ in a couple of weeks. I am a silver card holder so I can select seats for free at the time of booking. As far as I understood, the front row is usually reserved for gold card holders, but these can become available 72 hours before the flight. However, today when I logged on to select seats I can also select the front row (exit row) seats in WT+, but I would ave to £58.

Is this a new initiative, or is it something I've never noticed before?