It's true to say that some the call centre staff at BMI Diamond Club really don't seem to have a clue what they're doing at all.
I actually just phoned them back to see if they could put in a request for seats as I knew for a fact they were available - the person I spoke to when I called originally had stated in no uncertain terms that there were no Reward seats available at all - without even seeming to check - and told me that I had to book at least 9 months in advance and then tried to sell me flights, with BMI to LAS!
So when I called a second time, mightly PO'd, with the certain knowledge that there WERE seats available, the next person told me that there suddenly were seats available, but I couldn't book them as the flight I wanted - LHR-LAX with UA- was actually a connecting flight to LAS and there were no seats available from LAX-LAS. I suggested just getting off at LAX, but this was impossible, apparently.
Anyway, after much arguing and me pointing out how ridiculous that sounded, I was suddenly told that I could book the seats after all.
So, after a 45 minute call, I have managed to get 2 First Class return seats, LHR-LAX flying out on Dec 18 for two weeks, total cost £1,080 for taxes, 1 x Miles only and 1 x Miles + Cash flight. Phew!
It just goes to show that you can't take NO as an answer from BMI - if seats are showing up elsewhere, they may eventually show up in their system if you are persistant!
I have had similar experiences booking reward seats on SQ with Diamond Club, so this whole experience didn't come as a complete surprise.
BTW, anybody got any experience of F on a transatlantic UA trip? It wouldn't have been my first choice, but I didn't have enough miles for VS UC and Air NZ were showing absolutely no availability in Y, J or F- ever!