I had the exact same problem. I am trying to book a flight today from either LAX or San Francisco to Europe (flying into London and out of Frankfurt) on May 16th and returning May 30th. I tried booking several non-stop flights on United, but they were all out of "award seats" on both legs (mind you the map of the plane is almost completely empty on some of these). It is 6 months before I plan to travel, and all the award seats were gone. After speaking with a CSR for over an hour, I finally got him to explain that they only release seats periodically on these flights. He actually said that most award seats are released in the final week before the flight, but that there are certain periods such as the first week of December when more seats usually open up on international routes. I was told that I should try calling back every day until I get those seats. Unfortunately, my life doesn't revolve around booking airline tickets, and I don't really have the time to do that. I told them that I would call back, but this run around that they are giving me makes me very frustrated, and makes the whole point of earning miles completely a complete waste of time. Why should I pay more to fly United, so that I can earn miles which can't be redeemed on the flights that I want? If that is the case, then I might as well find a cheaper alternative knowing that United's miles aren't worth the paper they're printed on....
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