Well there was a silver lining.

When I read the site was down I decided to see whether BAEC could still see CX flights.

Not only it can, but I spied U and T availability on a QF127 flight my brother may be marginally interested in to come back on for next Chinese New Year.

After a three way conversation with my sister in law in Sydney and my brother now in New York, I managed convince my brother to take one of the U seats.

Then since BAEC said there were 2U redemptions, I asked them if my niece can travel with my brother. There was a bit of trans-Pacific hand wringing cos it'll be "another" day off school, but I suggested is my niece's school objects I can reissue the ticket as a one way and they can buy one more. So the second QF127 U seat was taken.

P.S. Manage My Booking still works.