I wanted to know if there is any way I can access an airline reservation system to view advanced options, etc.

I do a lot of travel on Amtrak and the major US air carriers. Amtrak does not let you access any special options on there website, and only lets you do that over the phone because the agents have access to the reservation system and can actually tweak things, etc.

Airlines seem to be pretty much the same, and cannot really do anything special online. Some you can specify a preferred seat which is cool, but it is still a very "easy" view....I would like something more advanced like those old school booking systems. I think "sabre" and "apollo" sound familiar but are probably gone for people like us to use.

An alternative that someone knows would be awesome!

Thanks
Anton