The 'official' policy as stated to non-Plats is that one can only request exit row seating in person at a ticket office. The catch-22 is that no such animal exists; they can reissue tickets at baggage check-in areas, but are generally snowed trying to get people on planes.

I made a spreadsheet showing 25 future flight legs, 15 of which I wanted reclining exit aisle seating. It made an awesome prop, and eased the whole process. At check-in for my first flight after making this spreadsheet, I got one harried supervisor to assign me exit row on one upcoming flight. At the gate I volunteered for a later flight but they didn't need me. I then requested a couple more future exit-row assignments.

On arrival late at EWR, I prowled for the least busy, fanciest check-in area for which my Gold Elite card provided access. (One can guess...) I asked if this was a 'ticket office'. "No, but they're closed now. What can I do for you?" I explained how various people had taken mercy on me and assigned exit rows for a few of my flights. Grin. "Give that to me..." He finished my list. No more need for the spreadsheet prop.