Who are you planning on flying with? Virgin seats in the bubble are Premium Economy so you would have to pay the appropriate supplements to get them. I don't know the configuration of the other airlines as I haven't done USA on any other carriers in the last five or six years.
I booked our flights for April/May on the first day of the latest sale - so 4 mths ahead. We have got 3 seats in the bubble and there were a few to choose from.
I hae watched the prices since they came on sale and they were constant until the sale when they dropped £100pp.
We are a family of 6 and always request the back 6 seats, firstly you are the first passengers off the plane which is great for immigration purposes etc, secondly the back 6 seats are in like a "L" shape if that makes sense, ie on our last trip my DS8 and DS7 sat directly behind my DS4 and I with my Dh across the isle with our DD2. If you can imagine where my son's where sat was the wall to the stairs leading up to the bubble so we was in our own little cluster really, the seats were great
Have you checked our www.seatguru.com. You can look at all the seats on all Virgin flights and get reviews on how good/bad they are.
I love the seatguru site, and I do see what you mean about the 'L'
We will be travelling out as a 4 with my parents, and back on our own, so I think maybe 4 seats in the same row would be good for us. I think I will aim for closer to the back though so we aren't up near the loos. I'm not a fan of people walking past me so near the back I guess there's less chance of that.
I think it depends upon of fixed are your dates and airline. Wayneg often waits and get great deals on flights but thats because of flexibility in dates, airline and direct/indirect. For those who have little flexibility then grab the flights as soon as you are happy with the price.
I boook as soon as they are released - same day if possible. Then when the airline goes bust I book that day with someone else! (Well this year I did - hope not ever again!!)
We booked on the 23rd December - it was thr first sale that had covered our dates. It is still on the VA website.
As there are only 42 seats on the upper deck there are no really bad seats. We have sat in row 70 four times which is right by the toilets and it has never been a problem. The front half is blocked until OLCI but the are in a straight line the rear half have a slight stagger.