After trying last Thursday and Friday, I was able to book a Lufthansa first saver award last Friday night around 9:30pm for an TATL itinerary around the Labor Day holiday. It took about an hour and forty minutes from the time the website confirmed my booking to the time it ticketed me. But, I have a valid 016 ticket number and got the Lufthansa PNR from the 1K line. The Lufthansa PNR shows up as valid on the Lufthansa website along with the 016 ticket number. Miles have been deducted from my account and my credit card charged appropriately for the taxes.

The flights I had wanted had shown up as available on the United website on last Thursday and Friday; however, each time I went through the motions of booking it, I got the fateful error message. Called up the 1K line a couple times to see if I could book it over the phone; however, even the agents were unable to book it.

Looking forward to visiting the FCT during my layover in FRA!