You can check flights on line and find the coveted NWA flights 38 & 37, Bos-AMS RT, but then if you try to call them up, this itinerary is not necessarily available.

You can call a partner like Alaska Airlines to try to use those miles and get it there, and they can give you their locator code and take your credit card, but again, good luck on securing the flight until they hear back from NWA.

If you walk into the desk, maybe then you get what you seek and they'll hand you a ticket.

Sure, thousadns of agents in hundreds of places are helping millions of customers, but how many systems are there and shouldn't they all talk to each other a bit faster?

One should hope so.

And then there's each airline's black out dates and airlines...

using miles can be hard when time is money.
I have specific flight details but I am wondering what other's thoughts are in this area:

Is it (the booking systems) consistent--even within one airline's partner services? Should this be better?

I think so.