Can anyone advise me on AAdvantage timing? Having never used any of my (limited) points, I'm going to give it a whirl.

Goal (or fantasy) is to book 2 round-trip business class seats RDU-BCN using the MilesAAver, 50K points. Looking to travel early June of 2012. Maybe that's like looking for unicorns -- merely the stuff of lore -- but I thought I'd try.

I know inventory of award seats fluctuates wildly. But in general, do I have a better shot as soon as the flights open up? Which for American I guess is about eleven months out? Or do they dump in the occasional business seat randomly? Must I do the old trick of staying up until 12:01 each night for the whole danged year? ;-) Or will I merely lose sleep for my efforts?

Also, is booking through the AA website the only way to go? I know with CO, many award seats, especially partner flights, just won't turn up online, but if I call, the ever-helpful agents can dig something up. (Does AA even have a phone line for booking award seats? Hmm.)

Anyhoo, if any of you regulars have advice, I'd appreciate it.