I've been commuting weekly on AA and lately I've been choosing not to pay for a specific seat since it's short flights with no baggage. Now I can't check in online, the counter agent gives me a "priority verification card" and I have to go to a kiosk at each gate to get a seat for that flight only.

I don't care about which seat I get, but I'm paying full fare and definitely expect a confirmed seat. Am I flying standby? If I have a tight connection could I run to my gate and find that the seat I think I've bought was given away? Do I have to pony up another $12 or so and choose my seat to get to check in once per trip?

This is really annoying, they've found yet another way to make domestic air travel more stressful and less user-friendly.