I heard that the availability was poor, but we just got two tickets to Ecuador for mid-September, for the exact dates we wanted and with great connections, including a weekend stopover in IAH to see parents: SFO-IAH-UIO(destination)-PTY-IAH(stopover)-SFO (extra connection in Panama on the way back adds 2 hours - no big deal). Also, two years ago I got a very satisfactory US stopover award without much difficulty: SFO-IAH(stopover)-MSP-EWR(destination)-SFO).

I rarely redeem CO awards, but my personal track record has been good.