I'm booked on the slaveship in Y LHR-YVR in a few days. LX ticket stock. Phoned in for seat selection and asked what preferred seats were available. Agent provided a list of seats. I asked:
Is there a seat I can purchase for additional legroom but NOT next to a bassinet (I don't want to sit at the one location that will certainly have a crying child for 10 hours) and NOT at a lavatory bulkhead where the space in front of me will be used to congregate in line for the lavs?
The answer was no. There are six such seats (on a 398Y aircraft) and they are all occupied.
That's all I have left to say on "pax are too cheap to pay for anything but slaveship seating".