I was able to book two First Class Saver returns SFO-SYD for December, and am ticketed in ON. What was interesting was the search - I could see ON=2 in the inventory, but on the web it wouldn't display the option. I then performed the same search using the iPhone app, and the saver seats appeared - I completed the reservation on the iPhone app, and sure enough it ticketed.

My theory is that the iPhone app requires you to log in before performing a search, so it pulls the super elite inventory for flights and displays options correctly. For some reason on the actual website, it can be very hit or miss - even when you are logged in to your account, sometimes it recognizes your status correctly in the search, sometimes not. This is also evidenced by times when it asked me to pay a "close-in fee" for a booking, even though GS/1K/Plat are waived this amount. Sure enough, if I completely logged out and back in to my account and re-performed the search and reservation, the close-in fee was shown as waived. Sigh.

Calling in rarely works right now - many agents have no idea which is the appropriate inventory bucket. If you're having real problems, you can ask to be transferred to the Electronic Support Desk, who will research what you are seeing online, and often work with you.

I just tried performing this exact search on the iPhone app - sure enough 869 on May 16 appears as Saver First and lets you choose it. I took a screenshot but can't figure out how to attach an image stored on my phone.