Allen Crockett is a do-it-yourself flier.
Though he travels 100,000 miles a year, the telecommunications sales executive from Raleigh, N.C., rarely talks to an airline employee on the phone or at the airport.
He buys tickets online. He prints boarding passes at home. And he gets alerts from American Airlines on his cellphone if his flight has been delayed. If he doesn't have an exit-row or front-of-the-section seat, he checks in at a kiosk at the airport to see if he can get one at the last minute.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2006-02-19-air-experience-usat_x.htm