Awardplanner seems to be exactly the ticket for a certain kind of problem, and not so much for others. If you like to call, plan, scheme, etc., then go it alone. Why pay anyone else to do what you like to do best? On the other hand... A few years ago, I was invited to a wedding in AKL, about 5 months out, at the beginning of January. Right, peak season to Lord of the Rings Land. I had the miles for C on *A, with some flexibility before and after, but when I called, there was zip, nada, nothing, not even in Y. UA told me to call back every day and check. Were they kidding!?! I did this for about 2 weeks, when, wouldn't ya know it, the wedding was called off. Saved by the break-up. But I would have gladly paid Awardplanner to make those daily calls for me, wait on hold, etc.

The other scenario where I could imagine using them is for a trip I'd like to take with my SO to AKL (for real this time...). I want UA p.s. to SFO/LAX then either NZ C (the new BP class) at least 1-way or SQ/AH/TG F r/t. Here, I want something specific, not just any routing. I'll try on my own as soon as I have my dates, but after that, Awardplanner.com gets my $ to make it happen without my having to call UA every day.