Originally Posted by
WineCountryUA
Honestly, that's a strategy that has a high failure and you may not know until very close to depart when BasicEconomy and NRSA seating is done. And any irrops of other flights could have an impact. Plus preferred seats at check-in are free to all.
Agreed, and it’s actually worse than that, because by the time OP discovered whether or not the seat would be empty, it’s quite possible that there would be no E+ seats available anywhere near each other.