Originally Posted by virtualtroy
...Don't underestimate the importance of getting your seating sorted well in advance, especially if flying business....
My experience indicates the opposite -- I still get good seats (even great seats, as in the best on the plane) without bothering to pre-reserve seats. About half the time I don't bother requesting seats, and on IB/BA/QF/AY/CX/LA I have always gotten a seat that was comparable to what I might have picked. So the automatic seat allocation system works well on those airlines. It is only on AA that you have to be careful to pick a seat.