Originally Posted by
hawaii-bound
Thank you so much for the reply.
You are correct, I was referring to Premium Class, we are both AA Gold but AS did allow us to book the exit row seats which is more than adequate since all we were looking for was the increased legroom. Even though AS first class had wider seats, we prefer the legroom. After further reading, I know that having an exit row seat will not automatically qualify us for Premium Class but we really do not need free beer and wine, not worth the additional $200. We also ended up going on HA with the stopover in HNL because it would get us in 3 1/2 hours earlier. Still don't understand why AS has a flight that gets into SAN after midnight.
For future reference, as an AA Gold, oneworld Ruby, you do have access to Mileage Elite & Refundable fare seats at booking. You can select all Light Blue (available) seats with a triangle in the upper right corner which includes the Exit Rows. The exit rows do have more legroom than Premium but Premium is still a big step up from non Exit Row Main. Keep in mind that Exit Row 16 does not recline while Exit row 17 does. Armrests are not fixed as they are on some AA aircraft so width isn't compromised.
At OLCI, 24 hours before departure, you should be able to self assign any available Premium seat without charge. You don't have to wait to be "upgraded."
James