Originally Posted by GeezerCouple

It's pretty late, but OTOH, some of the airlines release extra premium awards seats (if available) within the last 2 weeks or so. (Twice, we've been prepared to fly J, and approx 2 weeks before travel date, the awards agent we used got us F seats. Once was on the same airline; once was on a different, and preferred, airline. In the latter case, we just re-banked the points for a small fee. WELL worth it, both times.)

At least some of the services don't charge unless they are able to get you satisfactory seats.

Thus far, we've *always* been able to get something satisfactory, although we usually book far in advance, and also usually have some flexibility on the actual dates, or even the exact routing.

Good luck.
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GC