The whole deal is not totally completed quite yet but I have made incredible progress since the lurker sent me on to a Guest Services manager. My 713 cert is on the way and she even contacted BA, the airline I intend to fly. She also expedited the cert for free to make up for the phone problems. She admits that they are not fully prepared for this VERY busy month and apologized for staff's not knowing that old awards are OK. My husband and I wanted the old BA Concorde award for 200K but that was cancelled last year after the crash and not been re-established. Do not know if it will be. Took the decision out of my hands so I went for the infamous 713. You do get a cert for BA and points with all other airlines. I booked Bucharest, but it is not the best choice for maximizing value. However, it has a great deal of availability! So far, so good.

Thanks, lurker! You could actually reveal yourself like Adam Burke does and get mega Brownie points from all of us.