When I've tried to look for awards I've been pretty successful. Sometimes it takes a little flexibility (+/- 1 day), but I haven't had any problems. Then again I haven't tried booking something like SFO-CDG for Valentine's Day the day before Valentine's Day. There have been instances though where people have been able to get what would seem like difficult awards using miles. IIRC auh2o was able to get a Business Class award on UA from LAX-IND the weekend of the Indy 500 without much advance notice.

[This message has been edited by kluau88 (edited 06-03-2003).]