Originally Posted by ssullivan

There are tons of posts on here about CO awards being impossible to redeem, but my experience has been the opposite. Every time I've wanted to redeem one I've been able to do it on the dates I wanted (or close to them) and in the class I wanted. Granted, I have not redeemed any international or BF awards. But I have been able to get both domestic Y and F awards to major destinations out of IAH without great difficulty on multiple occassions, both with and without elite status and without redeeming at the higher EasyPass levels. It all depends on when you try, what route you're wanting to fly and how early you book the trip. I've generally booked domestic awards two to three months in advance (usually closer to three), although my latest is a first class award IAH-ANC that I'm flying next week. I booked it in mid-March and was lucky to get it then. The next day the award seats on my flights were gone in both Y and F. And if the CO website doesn't show any flights available, call them, and try DL, NW, and other partners. But don't believe the talk that you can NEVER redeem CO awards at the standard levels. It just isn't true.