I guess I have been doing pretty well considering the poor luck others have experienced.

When my French grandfather passed away in March, I was able to claim a 40,000 mile award from SJC to CDG with only a few days notice. I also called AA two weeks ago to ask about award availability going from SJC/SFO to CDG departing June 30 and returning July 15. Very tough award to get, right? Wrong! First try, those exact dates, and the routing is SFO-DFW-CDG on 6/30, and CDG-MAN-BOS-SFO on July 15. Lucky indeed!!!