Bit of fun today

Booked with EI and have 2 AA segments on the ticket
Looked up the booking on AA.com, no FF number entered, so try to enter AerClub number, it accepts it, claims its saved, but if I look up the booking its vanished
Struggled with the AA chat bot for a while, (enter 000 000-0000 as a phone number to get past its stupid form), chat agent claimed to have fixed it but no avail, was 'transferred' to reservations and which point chat disconnected
Called AA directly and was quickly connected to an Agent who had to put me on hold for a while but was successful in adding the number
I didn't immediately see status recognition, checked after about 3 hours and preferred seating on both of my AA segment was now free of charge.
Not sure what 'for status members' seats are within the selection, I could select them