I have booked my wife and two little children for a family visit to Brazil. United (website) cannot assign any seats to them as no seats are available but they are holding plenty of 'Economy Plus' seats. When I called, I was told that for them to get seat assignments, they may have to buy up ($129/pp) or wait till 24 hours before departure for seats.

I am looking for advice as to how best I can get seats together for my wife and a 5 year and a 3 year old. We are not looking or wanting e+ seats just normal seats would be fine. It seems like all seats have been blocked (I would be surprised that 3 months in advance all economy seats are taken up).

Thanks