I think what flytoeat meant by "give it away" was that non-elites cannot self-select those premium seats without paying. Of course at the gate, agents are free to assign Y seats as needed which is the way it worked during my UA days...it was almost a good think if E- seats were all taken because then you were almost guaranteed a "free" E+ seat assigned at the gate...of course it could be a middle or whatever was open at departure.