I knew about these plane swap issues and still picked a seat in the first two rows after being upgraded only to still be downgraded so good luck!
I also requested to get my originally booked MCE seat but AA wouldnt budge, nor would the gate agent so I was stuck in a non-reclining YC seat.
How can they make such automatic reassignment of seats with a plane swap but I can’t get my originally booked coach seat back? Drives me nuts!
This reminds me I still have to use my $300 downgrade compensation AA proactively offered me.