Update: I called back about 7-8 hrs after switching seats. Sounds as though J is pretty full. 12AB were already gone (!), and there were no two seats together upstairs (I don't really care about sitting w/ my friends, but on a flight this long, I _would_ like to sit/sleep with my hubbie...). The best I could do was row 26 (for all of us). Not a big difference, but a little better, anyway. I hope my friends are grateful---they didn't have any assigned seats at all!