Well, I was able to make my outward reservation but it wasn't so easy. The first two agents I encountered were outright hostile to booking me so far out -- like I was trying to cheat the airline or something. Fortunately, after some initial reluctance, the third agent did the outward booking for me, and didn't make me book a "dummy" return (why tie up award seats I know I'm not going to use?).

Given the unhelpfulness, though, I'm worried that I won't be able to find "nice" agents to string my booking along for my return. With the 3 day hold, I'll probably need 3 extensions. Is there any other way (other than give up my outbound seats and hope they're still available when my return date "clocks in")? If I'm reading the rules correctly, I could book a dummy return on my specific route and then rebook on my actual return date without penalty. Is that true?

However, it seems a bit risky -- especially given the $100 change fees per person! I would be willing to take the risk if I was able to "open jaw" the return so I could at least book my "second choice" return city without penalty if no standard award seats become available on my preferred routing. Has anyone ever successfully "negotiated" any flexibility with US on this? Simply as human beings, it seems logical that they would be willing to help.