Originally Posted by jiburi
Sorry BearX220. I have had instances where I did come up with different availability after I logged in. It's not frequent but I have booked those which did result in better availability.
I've found the added availability for NW elites on a number of occasions. It's definitely there.
I also find it hard to join the bandwagon of those complaining about a lack of award availability. Of course, I don't try to book 5 tickets to Europe or Hawaii in high season, but in the last 13 months we've booked with very little difficulty standard award (ahh ... PerkSaver? ... that just doesn't roll of fthe tongue) roundtrips from MSP for two people to:
(1) Athens, Greece
(2) Boise, ID
(3) St. Louis, MO (1 ticket only, DL wanted $400+ for a last minute change to attend a funeral, screw 'em)
(4) San Francisco, CA
(5) El Paso, TX
(6) Edinburgh, UK (cancelled 'cause friends had issues getting their tickets thru AS, miles recycled for #7)
(7) Ljubljana, Slovenia
I do expect reduced award availability simply because the airlines -- in a effort to survive -- are reducing flights, using smaller planes, and increasing loads. However, I don't anticipate any significant difficulty booking the trips I want to take.