I usually check daily...and when I find a flight I like, I "HOLD" the reservation in the AA system...it holds for 5 days....then I keep looking for flights with less miles or a direct flight. After 5 days I hold again....
We usually fly out on Thanksgiving Day....sometimes its double miles and sometimes not, thats why I keep looking and holding....
Usually we can get a direct flight out of DFW for around 35,000 miles round trip/person. Since its only a 3 1/2 flight we usually don't spend the miles for first class (save them for next trip) usually we have enough miles for our twice a year trips this way.