FlyerTalk Evangelist and Ambassador: The British Airways Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Diam, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 33,172
Indeed:
1) not all seats are available for pre-assignment on AF flights, only part of the cabin is;
2) some seats are reserved for elite only but may be returned to the general pool of available seats at OLCI if they are not taken by then;
3) AF flies an A380 on the route because it fills an A380 on the route. Your departure is in merely two weeks, and it is peak holiday season in Europe so even if it is not in South Africa, it makes little difference the flights will most likely be extremely busy;
In short, there is no point in you booking a seat if there is none that you like. You can wait for OLCI and hope for the best, knowing that it might not come, or take a paid seat to minimise risk.