Hi MUCDavid
I know I'm a couple of days late but please allow me to welcome you to the EK forum. As you have seen, there is a wealth of knowledge and information on the forum with similar threads to this if you do a thread search. Unfortunately EK seem to operate a bit hit and miss with award availability but others have far more experience than me so I will leave it to them to hopefully advise better.
Once again, welcome on board and hopefully you'll share your EK experiences and help others out.
Safe & Happy Travels
S