I got a NWA travel voucher...

In July, I got involuntarily bumped from a Northwest Airlines flight,
and they gave me a travel voucher good for a free round-trip ticket
anywhere in the USA, including Alaska but not Hawaii. Several people
told me I should book a flight as soon as possible, because there are
very few seats available for these vouchers (one person said, "Book it
eleven months ahead").

I just called NWA and tried to book a flight to Anchorage in June
2005, returning 12 days later. The reservation agent said nothing was
available to fly to Anchorage until July 4, 2005, and there were no
return flights available for me until August 20th!!! He said I should
call back in a couple of months, because the flights were not yet "set
up" that far in advance.

I know lots of people get bumped. How can you actually use the free
ticket? Are there likely to be more seats available later, or less?
The ticket is pretty useless to me if I can't get a return flight
about two weeks after the outgoing flight. Hmmm... is this how the
airline saves money, by making it virtually impossible to use the
voucher?

- Zelda