Originally Posted by
AA_EXP09
Don't have any points now but I will tell you that I booked a nice 1st class ticket earlier last year during the AP promotion.
How does this help the OP in any way?
OP: I'm sure AP would love for you to book at Classic levels, but I'd just keep looking for availability at normal redemption levels. Summer can be a more difficult time to find flights, as you know. And if by direct you mean non-stop, there aren't tons of flights. Think about connections using LH, for example.