Originally Posted by
sfvoyage
1. Does it feel any different sitting backward, in terms of motion, etc.? Would the "average" person notice any difference? If so, does it differ on main deck vs. upper deck?
For the vast majority of the flight you won't notice - aside from taxiing, take-off and landing. In fact, I often tend to forget that the destination is behind me, and the direction I'm looking out of the window is the opposite to if I were facing forward on the other side of the plane. It's never bothered me, nor I suspect most people.
2. Any idea what % of seats are usually left for free assignment at T-24? And, of those remaining seats, do they tend to distribute evenly between backward and forward facing ones, or do they tend to be mostly backward (or forward) ones?
Depends on how full the flight is, and whether seats are preassigned ahead of T-24 (not sure what current policy is). If you have a strong preference, e.g. for the upper deck or a window seat pair, you may be out of luck. Personally I won't pay the seat selection fees on principle - when we've had no status, we've always managed to get seats for two together at T-24. Normally a window seat pair which we prefer although once had to settle for seats across the aisle from each other. Last flight on an A380 we got an upper deck middle and adjacent aisle seat as no window seats left.
If you're looking for one forward-facing seat your odds are probably quite good, given the more private window seats tend to be more popular and the arrangement on the upper deck means slightly more than 50% are forward facing. If it's a popular leisure route some couples will tend to go for the main deck rear facing pairs, though those are the ones to particularly avoid as a solo traveller.
You can always keep an eye on the available seats in the run-up to the flight date.