I don't really understand OP's point about 24-hour refunds. When I try to cancel a BR ticket within 24 hrs, they never attempted to charge the cancellation fee stated in the fare rules... Maybe OP needs to prompt them to acknowledge the 24-hour cxl rule?

As for seat selection, I agree with OP that *A is pretty bad with elite recognition other than across airlines (probably other than lounges, priority CI and stuff). Preferred seat selection is usually unavailable for partner elites. That's one of the primary reason I am sticking with OW