You should also be aware that if you are holding an award reservation, and the travel times change "substantially" (where "substantially is entirely up to the discretion of an individual agent), you will often be given the option of cancelling the trip entirely, and having them redeposit the miles _without_ the fee, as they "made" the trip impossible through changes. Therefore regardless of whether or not your plans are certain, change the booking to 330 days ahead (the last day seen by the reservations system), to the last flight of the day (to optimize chances that a schedule change will create an impossible connection, or require departure singificantly before your original plan). Monitor the reservation every few weeks, and by the time 330 days rolls around, you are virtually guaranteed a schedule change that some phone agent (might take several call backs) will agree is "significant". Not tidy, but it works.