true enough but from my perspective I would (and will) take the flights if only the BF segment is available, this would certainly backfire IF there would be partner airlines that do have the full F/BF seats.

I would rather take SJO-(Y)-IAH-(BF)-LHR than CM 404-CM 210- CO 8226 which are shown as available in F/BF for 50k miles BUT....then again....when you go through the motions.....at the confirmation screen you see stuff like "well none of those flights NONE! actually have F/BF seats!"

There should be an analysis of what CO is trying to do if this is all by design

are they making money or losing money, example, me

a) do I do one flight in Y and one in BF in CO OR
b) do I pick partner flights if available thereby CO losing some $?
c) do I use a different mileage program such as AA where I MAY get the seats?
d) pay the 650 something dollars that the itinerary costs in Y?

this is the first time I try to get a F/BF award so this revelation of why it was so hard to find any availability is 'slightly' annoying , I for one would like to have the complete picture of what is available and what's not and then I will make an informed decision