Seats together with weekend first upgrade

[Nicholas43]

I'm going to Cornwall with children and grandchildren at the end of August. If some of us travel from Oxford (via Reading), and some of us travel from Paddington, and we're all on the same train from Reading, and I buy all our tickets together, and we all upgrade to weekend first:
1. Do we get reserved seats in first?
2. Should the ticket clerk be able to reserve us all seats together (some from Paddington, some from Reading, obviously)?
3. If answer to 2 is yes, is there anything I can, if necessary, helpfully tell the ticket clerk about how to ensure we get seats together?

 

[island]

I'm going to Cornwall with children and grandchildren at the end of August. If some of us travel from Oxford (via Reading), and some of us travel from Paddington, and we're all on the same train from Reading, and I buy all our tickets together, and we all upgrade to weekend first:
1. Do we get reserved seats in first?
2. Should the ticket clerk be able to reserve us all seats together (some from Paddington, some from Reading, obviously)?
3. If answer to 2 is yes, is there anything I can, if necessary, helpfully tell the ticket clerk about how to ensure we get seats together?

If you're buying advances, you can only get weekend first upgrades on the train, and subject to availability. This is achieved by sitting in first (in whatever seats you want) and paying the guard when he comes around. You cannot reserve first-class seats in advance in this case.

If you're buying walk-up tickets, then I think you can buy weekend first upgrades and reserve seats in first.

Clerks can reserve adjacent seats, but it's a pain to do, apparently.

 

[Nicholas43]

Clerks can reserve adjacent seats, but it's a pain to do, apparently.

Thanks for reply. We'd be getting Super Off-peak Returns.
Is it so much of a pain that I'll probably get a 'no'? Or are there dodges the clerk needs to know?

 

[island]

I don't work in a booking office so I can't say (although booking two advance journeys for me took a clerk at Fenchurch Street the best part of 10 minutes, without any upgradey stuff). The clerks are obliged to sell you the ticket (as long as you're not at a "Tickets for Today" window or a Southeastern-operated ticket office before 10am) so it's not really a case of getting a "no", but for the best chance of a good reception, I would suggest going at a quiet time, ideally to a station with several windows.