I contacted a few services, some that don't require payment or CC info upfront and 1 that does. The time frame we want to go is the highest peak time for Europe and award seats were eaten up a year ago. This is another reason I contacted the award services, figured they'd know more tricks than I could possibly. 2 of the services couldn't find anything(no fee), they simply gave up. The one paid is certainly earning their fee.
Flight Fox
I was actually handed off from one expert to another, I think it had something to do with their location. The current expert is located in Europe and has found some really decent connections on the outbound but the return is proving to be even more challenging. There can be a little lost in translation at time with the emails.
This service does not log into your miles/points accounts, they explain how to contact the airlines and what to tell them for the bookings.
So far it's been fine, challenging but fine.