Delta, which has most of the gates in Minneapolis, does not sell exit row in advance, and I wouldn't count on getting it when I'm going to be flying for 10 hour

Delta, which has most of the gates in Minneapolis, does not sell exit row in advance, and I wouldn't count on getting it when I'm going to be flying for 10 hours to Italy. Northwest would sell the exit row seats in advance, but unless you had elite status, you could only purchase them 24 hours in advance. This was great when I had elite status, but sucked otherwise. I would gladly pay $100+ for exit row if I could get it when I book my ticket.