aj411 What was the final result in your situation? My wife and I are facing the same situation with AA marketed QR flights JFK-DOH in a couple of weeks. While there seems to be plenty of EF seats for the JFK-DOH segment, there's not as many for the DOH-JFK segment. Further complicating my situation, is the first flight on my eastbound itinerary is on AA metal, so I have to check in on aa.com, and I'm not sure how I will get seats assigned on the JFK-DOH flight. QR agent on the phone said when they try to assign seats on their end it asks for a payment ($140 per flight per person, so $560 total for us; no thank you!). He said he marked our reservation as having a preference for the EF seats; not sure what that will achieve.