Thanks.

strange thing was that if only one person on the group has no status then none of us can select the bulkhead rows.

For instance if two of us:
- both have status: all seats in economy wide open for section. Including first row
- one has no status: first rows are unavailable to both of us to select (no option even to pay for them)

So only way is to:
- for me with status to buy cheapest ticket and select any seat I want
- for other passenger(s) without status to do another booking and select a tariff that allows seat selection for an extra fee!