It seems like AA is really overdoing it on their upcharge for specific seats. On our return to the US from SXM in June, basically the whole front of the plane was empty, which actually would not be a good thing, as far as weight distribution in the air. So the cabin attendant was stopping people as they got on and re-seating them up front. We were originally in row 25 or something and got re-seated in row 16 (which is our anniversary!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />), with three seats for the two of us, as almost everyone else was, unless there were three people together.