JGill, I realize what I'm about to say doesn't help you, but I don't think you can wait til mid-October to try to book award travel over Christmas, particularly if you are looking for more than one seat. There were probably award seats available on all the airlines to wherever you want to go at Christmas, but they are long gone. Heck, I had trouble buying a discounted fare to CLT for Thanksgiving almost 3 months in advance! I'm actually surprised US has award seats available at all!

While availability is very dependent on airline, destination, time of year, and class of service, I have found that if you book 11 months in advance (when award seats open up on most airlines) almost everything is available. At 8-9 months in advance, things begin to tighten up, particularly to popular destinations. At 6 months, the going gets tough - you are likely to find some seats but not on the flights you want. You may find unpopular times or have to switch dates by a day or two. Once you are down to 4 months, take what you can get because it's all downhill.

You can find award seats late in the game (< 2 months to departure) as airlines do open up additional award seats, but you are really taking a chance. If no seats open up, you could end up paying a rather high fare.

Late in January this year, I booked Vegas award tickets for travel this month (that's almost 9 months in advance). In June I booked award travel to Alaska for next May (11 months to the day in advance). I had no problems getting the dates/times I wanted.

I realize booking award seats 8-11 months in advance is a crazy thought for many people, but I look at it this way: If I really have to book 5 months out anyway to even have a chance at getting what I want, will I know anymore about potential conflicts with my schedule at that point than I would know at 11 months out? I don't think so.