Interestingly, I had something like the converse happen when I was booking an OAK-LAX during Memorial Day weekend. There were revenue seats available in the first two and three columns throughout the day, but the RR Awards screen showed only four flights, then three. I know there are blackout dates, and Memorial Day weekend would be a likely candidate, but was surprised at this. I thought that it was - except for the blackout dates - "if there's a seat available, it's available for a RR Award".