Hopefully this discussion will help more people than me ...

I didn't buy EarlyBird (as I normally do) because I purchased so recently that I figured it wouldn't help me much. Bad logic, perhaps.

I was clumsy at the 24hr mark and ended up with a B50 (traveling alone). I do NOT want a middle seat. Searching around, it sounds like maybe 50/50 odds that B50 gets me a non-middle seat. Does that sound accurate ? I don't even like those chances.

I can upgrade to "business select" for about 14K RR points, which is about what I paid for each way of my ticket. Pricey !! Looks like another option is to buy A1-A15 boarding position tomorrow, and it'll cost $30 to $50 - which is still cheaper than 14K RR points, I believe. That's what I'm inclined to do.

Apparently the availability of purchasing better boarding position depends on how many many "business select" fares have already been purchased. So I logged out of my account and searched the availability of "business select" tickets for my itinerary tomorrow, specifying varying number of passengers (in the search). There appeared to be 6 "business select" seats available, but not 8.

So my plan ? Early tomorrow, redo this exercise to see how many "business select" tickets appear to be available. If fewer than N (2 ?) suck it up and pay the 14K RR points to upgrade my fare. Otherwise, try to get to the airport fairly early and purchase better boarding position.