To reduce costs, have you thought about leaving from South Korea? I know it's quite a detour, but a DONE5 from ICN is currently KRW 7,789,600, that is under USD 6,000 (comparing to USD 10,400 from the USA). For the two of you, you might well save up to 9,000 dollars (less the cost of getting there).

If you have some miles and can get an award flight, or if you can bear the transpacific flight in economy, savings are significant. If you fly ORD-ICN-ORD in business, you'll end up with roughly the same price, but with the possibility of visiting South Korea before starting your DONE5. On top of that, you may split your journey in two trips by stopping in ORD for some weeks (e.g. Home - Asia - Australia - Home - South America - Europe - Asia - Home).