Originally Posted by
NJRadioGuy
I'm wondering if there's any way to select our seats beforehand, and any way I can be assured of flying upstairs.
Originally Posted by
UKtravelbear
If you have either the appropriate One World Status or are prepared to pay then you can select seats anytime you like.
TBH without status or paying it’s unlikely you’d get to sit on the upper deck.
To flesh out the details, if either you or you wife has BA Gold or Silver or OW Emerald or Sapphire status, then you should be able to select your seats for free now (ie from the time of booking) and you should have a choice from almost all of the upper deck seats. 64A will probably be blocked because it's a bassinet position, and on some flights 60B may be blocked for crew rest (although LHR-JFK doesn't sound like a likely candidate for that).
With BA Bronze or OW Ruby, then the same applies from 7 days before the flight. AIUI, this is 7 days before departure, to the second.
Otherwise you will have to pay to pre-allocate seats on the upper deck. If you have to pay, then the normal position is that only the following seats will be available to you: 63AB, 63JK, 64B and (possibly) 60B. Once they're gone, they're gone.
As you mention the need for assistance with getting to the gate, it's probably worth mentioning (in case you don't already know it) that the stairs up to the upper deck are pretty narrow and steep. If you don't need a wheelchair, this may not be a problem for you, but I think it's worth you thinking about and if necessary you might want to look at some photos of the stairs.