I never booked awards online, either through local travel agency or Platinum hotline and I got good availability at least on TG; for other *A carrier it depends on the carrier, SQ for example is always terrible...

lounge: it made quite a difference to sit in F lounge (also on biz or cattle) than in the other TG lounges, that got sometimes very crowded in particular in the evening when all flights to Europe leave...

old F? nor sure what you mean...the old F seats on the 747 were replaced around 20 years ago, half with the suites and half with the seats with movable ottoman; also the latter were quite good, just a bit less privacy than the suites. F product on the A380 and on the new 777 is excellent