For summer 2013, our family is going to France, Italy, and Slovenia. We had no problem getting the long-hauls in groups of 4's and 5's on different EI flights to/from Dublin. (Bought other segments to/from the continent...they were too cheap to bother spending miles on.)

Coach awards...didn't check biz...but from the east coast that's doable. We're paying 40,000 Avios R/T per seat from Chicago; I believe you'd pay 25k R/T from JFK or BOS. Total taxes and fees were $120 R/T.

One group of 4 booked just last week for August travel, so some seats are still there for 2013. EI award availability seems to appear in vast quantities, then disappear completely, then sometimes show up again. It's rather mysterious to a non-regular of that airline.