Perhaps you'd have better luck with an airline branded CC?

>A couple of years ago I redeemed frequent miles for a family trip to SF. We had a very convenient flight, and didn't have to pay out of pocket. I guess things changed.
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>SET BITCH ON <g>
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>Last week I tried to redeem miles for a domestic (USA) flight. The CC travel agent found a very inconvenient flight and said that this is the lowest fair-flight. Otherwise, I have to pay the difference out of pocket. Since there is no such a thing as published air fair prices, they get you here any time. Basically, they can always find a "round-and-about" flight and "force" you to pay out of pocket (whichever amount they want) for a better flight.
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>Then I asked the CC travel agent what are the rules for redeeming the miles for a vacation trip (like a cruise). She said they will give me $100 for every 10,000 miles (which is reasonable IMO), but they will charge me 10% fee of the price of the package. So basically if I am buying a package for $5000. they will give me $500 for 50,000 miles and take it right back with the 10% fees.
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>SET BITCH OFF
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>Is what I describe above the typical state of how all CC frequent mile programs work? Or I just got sucked by a bad CC company.