This is a major deval of MileagePlan for me. We've used this a few times now and it made things a lot easier, especially in LAX where schlepping the bag from T6 to TBIT is a pain in the rear. Even setting award tickets aside, it is often impossible to book a cash itinerary to some of the more far-flung reaches of the world on the same ticket.

Extremely customer hostile. The option should at least be there to pay more. It is a service I would be happy to pay an extra $20 for.