I should have been more precise. The online booking was for paid tickets with wacky itineraries that spun off the miles that led to the awards/status. Something they'd never have patience to do over the phone and would say violated their rules. Award tickets were usually more straightforward, though later on I got better at maximizing stopovers, etc.

During the great fare war of 1992 the hour-long hold times with the airlines even made the national news.

If there's one thing I'm glad to see (mostly) out of the process now, it's the telephone. Though sometimes there's still no other way with award bookings on partner airlines (e.g. AA flights using EY miles)