Originally Posted by
curbcrusher
Welcome to FlyerTalk, Thor33!
In general, standard award availability changes often and seems to open up as you get closer to the date of travel. For holiday travel like yours I recommend booking what you can get now and then checking back often for availability on your preferred flights.
+1. And take heart. It works.
But for context, if you've found any Standard awards on 12/22 and 1/4, be glad, very glad. (When I last checked, it was a completely different picture on 1/5 -- of course.)
The long version:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=874454