+3. Since you're sitting on a boatload of credit card points, you'll be able to avail of nearly limitless options (ranging from dreadful to fantastic) to make your trip happen. Given all of the variables at play (e.g. 3 credit card programs with a dozen transfer partners each), engaging a paid service probably makes sense.

To many FTers, this advice might seem sacrilegious. In fact, I couldn't fathom going that route myself, but that's because I/we actually enjoy spending countless hours painstakingly sifting through flight schedules, ranking choices, subscribing to alerts, maintaining massive spreadsheets, etc. My gut tells me the OP's not down for such an undertaking, whether or not he/she realizes it.

Obviously, my assessment would be different if we were talking about something simple like a trip to Hawaii within the current booking window and only 2 or 3 types of currencies at their disposal.