Another interesting thing I've noticed - am stuck in whY with an approximately 0% chance of an upgrade for next Friday's QF11 - is that the bulkhead seats on the A380 exit row appear to be not considered "exit row" seats for the purpose of purchasing.

Am currently looking at row 66 and I see on the Qantas MMB:

66A - available for purchase
66B/C - taken
66D/E/F/G - not available
66H/J/K - available for purchase

EF shows 66D/E/F/G as Q-blocked, not taken. Now, given that all the "good" economy seats are gone already (and I'm not paying $160 for the pleasure of sitting in an exit row) - these look like a pretty decent option to me. They're not bassinets and the legroom is not entirely unreasonable. QF Premium wasn't open when I called to ask, and the lady I spoke to was super friendly but completely unsure whether I could request the seat or not. I'll call back tomorrow, but in the meantime does anyone know if these are "free" seats?