Originally Posted by Boraxo
The 330 day strategy is not a "myth." Earlier this year, I called at midnight airline time (actually earlier in my time zone) exactly 331 days out and had no trouble securing 2 outbound seats in business class from US to Europe. It was not necessary to book a return flight at that time, since I received a 2-week courtesy hold. ^
After 14 days, I called back (again, exactly 331 days out) and booked my return flight. Got my first choice of flights, first choice of carriers (in this case a OneWorld member) and 100% satisfaction with no hassles.
I don't know how AwardPlanner operates, but it appears from this thread that they are unwilling or unable to perform as I described. If that is the case, why bother? By not following this protocol, you definitely risk losing your first choice of award seats, particularly on popular routes like Hawaii and Europe. Is it worth the risk?
Your example doesn't show that the 330-day strategy is not a myth. It just shows that you got the flights you wanted by calling at the 330-day mark. To begin proving it a myth, you would need to call back a few days/weeks/months later and see if the same award ticket you booked at the 330-day mark was still available. Then you would need to repeat the whole process quite a few times (your sample size of 1 award doesn't mean much).
Many here have had great luck booking award at different intervals before the flight. I have had good luck with last minute awards (not that anyone should wait until the last minute to book a honeymoon trip) but have also gotten awards when calling a few months before the flight. I've redeemed many awards, have never failed to get where I need to go, and have never called at the 330-day mark (and I have booked many popular awards such as FL-Rome this past July with 2 weeks notice). I would think that this does more to prove this myth than your situation did to disprove it.