Yeah I flew LO recently and was pleasantly surprised I was able to sit just behind business class. The seats on the old E190s are good, by the way - far better than the new ones on the 737 Max 8, but even those are better than standard seats on A3's Neos!

I also flew LX last year and was given a sneak-peek into their policy by one of their former flight attendants. As *G on LX you are automatically allocated into their "top tier" of economy seats. I was given a mid-cabin-exit-row window seat on both flights but would have had to pay to move to ANY other seat. The exit rows on the A220 are pretty bad though - the seats have a shorter cushion so are really uncomfortable and the windows in the exit doors are TINY. I was really looking forward to the huge A220 windows flying into LCY! On the second flight I asked at the gate to be moved to a regular seat using the excuse "I don't feel comfortable sitting in an exit row" but they said I would still have to pay to move!

As for Asian carriers, I flew both SQ and BR (EVA Air) recently (award tickets) and they allowed pretty much full seat selection. I don't think they have the "up front" concept, just premium economy, which obviously wasn't available. Exit rows weren't available either. I was able to select my seats directly after booking but I don't know if this is due to being Gold, or maybe the "class" of ticket you get as an award.