Thought I'd share some experiences that may be useful to others.

I am an EXP on AA with a family of AA PLATs. I needed four RTs in First for SFO-HKG-JNB (using the now unavailable AA 140K miles award). When I called in June 2003, I just did not find ANY date in Feb-May period with availability for 4 pax. I simply booked 4 separate awards on different dates with a common routing. I just kept calling back periodically and slowly inventory kept getting released and I kept grabbing it by making date changes. At some point, I did freeze the dates (with common dates for all) with unavailable segments booked in business class.

I now have 4 RTs in First class for the same dates within my preferred window at a fairly peak time with the exception of 2 segments for a single person (booked in Biz for now). I definitely suggest a similar strategy for anyone in my shoes. It worked for multiple such itineraries in the past as well. Of course the inventory for Asia Miles awards is/was much better.

Also I usually book for the PLATs first and keep me (EXP) in business class when chasing F awards. CX almost always releases inventory for an AA EXP award travel closer to the travel date if they do not sell out on paid fares.