mt-x

when i flew from myrtle beach a couple of weeks ago, I was able to fly in the aisle seat, exit row. My friend's flight left about 3 hours earlier than mine so when we got to the airport, I was able to check in after an hour and was able to get exit row seats. I think you'll need to get to the airport very early if you want exit row seating.

AmericanAirlines

Allow me to let you in on a little secret. If you have an elite status with AA the bulkhead/exit seats are available to you when making a reservation. Only when they are not reserved bu elites they become available to the general public. I just made a reservation for 2 flights in early Septemebr and got seat 21A on a md-80 and seat 14F on a 737-800(best coach seats on these planes, as they are exit and also have full recline) The airline could take them away from me if for exemple I bought this ticket for my 90 year old grandma or 12 year old son. At check-in they would assign them a different seat. So you see folks, it's all about having status with an airline. This is just one of many perks available to elite status flyers. As a matter of fact the 2 above seats also have the seat next to them blocked-off automatically unless the plane is full. Another nice perk.
Want to have great seats on a regular basis? Try to get at least Gold status with AA and they shall be yours, without begging, showing up early at the airport, etc.etc.....