I'm trying to book an award flight involving a domestic leg on NW. Since the trip is pretty far away in time, no availability is shown through the web system. The problem is that the award seats from AMS to the U.S. gateways are disappearing fairly fast, and I do not know how long they last (yes, I am very over-cautious...). The Elite helpdesk suggested that I send in a fax and they would request NW to release a seat for me, and so I did.
NW replied 'No seats available'. According to the Elite helpdesk, NW were showing absolutely no availability whatsoever for a period on two weeks surrounding my requested dates (My dates aren't flexible at all, so I NEED to get the exact dates I requested). The helpdesk said NW simply hadn't released any seats, and probably won't do until about three months before the flight. The helpdesk's suggestion was to wait until 3 to 5 months before departure and try to book then, but by then all flights from AMS could be gone (or at least it could be very hard to match the available transatlantic flight with an open domestic flight).
When do NW release award seats to KL members?