Hiya, my gf and I would like to visit familiy in LA next summer, and I was wondering how you Flyertalkers find the cheapest flight?

I've searched through http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch but that doesn't always seem to work.

Our needs:

depart somewhere in July or August
stay for 2 or 3 weeks
departing from AMS (or any driveable airport in the neighbourhood)
arriving at LAX or SNA
the less stops the better
preferably a Skyteam airline (for picking up some FB points)

So any tips : please let me know! Any pilots flying there themselves who don't mind hitchhikers : even better