Mrs D-H and I were lucky, although we were flying on EY tickets, not a VA codeshare.
We were flying BOM-AUH earlier the year on the way back to MEL, on discounted Y fares. After I'd educated the local staff about the DJ-EY tie up (with screen shots of the relevant web-pages on my iPad!) and showed my Plat card, we were op-up'd to J.
I think the check in guy said that the aircraft had been changed from an A330 to an A320, so they were a bit short of seats...
No such luck on the AUH-MEL leg, but we did request and get bulkhead seats, and we were blessed with no babies...!