Originally Posted by
alanisrox69
Either way, the seats are there ...
No, they are not there. AA is refusing to allow space to be booked the way you want.
Don't make the conceptual mistake of thinking that these are like tins of baked beans sitting on a supermarket shelf that are either there or not there. There is space if you book either flight on its own. There is no space if you want to book the connection. And this is AA's decision.