I have booked several trips on AA.com and delta-air.com and have received the booking bonus for all of us each time.

As far as seating is concerned, one time, none of our seats were together. Don't worry, they will not allow your toddler to be seated away from you. Just get to the gate early and let them know your situation. The gate agent called up potential seat swap candidates to the desk and asked if they were flying alone and would be willing to change seats. We ended up with our seats all together. The key is to get there early enough so that they have time to switch without doing it at the last minute.

Also, if you are elite, you shouldn't book the child in an exit row since they are not exit row qualified. If you use a FAA approved car seat, it can only be used in a window seat or the middle seat of a center section in a wide body airplane. I try not to book tight connections when the family is traveling together.

Good luck