I have a booking AKL-BKK-PEK for 2 in J. That gives me a 3.5hr layover in BKK and a 4hr CA flight overnight. Plus I have a separately ticketed BA flight from PEK to connect to (6hr layover) so a simpler routing would be better.

Naturally I would prefer to fly on the direct NZ flight. It would also save me £150pp in YQ. Currently there is 1 J seat available. I can make a separate booking to grab this seat, hoping another opens at some stage without releasing my current booking for the two of us, but is this a good idea?

Is there a chance on NZ that a second seat opens when the first is booked, or in the worst case could I be damaging the chance of a second paired seat popping up in the next couple of months? The flight is over Christmas, but looks fairly open for now.

Thanks