I was just successful at booking 2 seats in J from AUH-JFK for November 24, 2018. Expert Flyer was showing the availability. Called U.S. Platinum number and that agent could NOT see the award availability. Then called the Trinidad AA number and that agent was able to book it right away.
Thanks to Flyertalk, I knew to call the Trinidad number. For anyone interested, that number is 246-428-4170.