justhere

I just found out about a relative's wedding in London, UK. The problem is that it is the last weekend in November.

I don't get to do international travel very often and I've been saving miles for just such an occasion. I'd like to fly business both ways and I only need 1 ticket. I've checked some of the gateway cities to LON and I have found some saver availability. My problem is that I would like to get there before the weekend which puts me right in the Thanksgiving travel period and getting to the gateway doubles the miles.

If I have to, I'll book from the gateway and buy a domestic ticket for the first and, if necessary, last leg of the trip. Before I do that I have a couple of questions.

I know there's a great thread around here somewhere that details various ways of getting from the US-LON through different gateways and different skyteam partners but I just can't seem to locate it. If someone can point me to it that would be great.

Also, if I get lucky enough to have a choice, given that it might be eons before I get to fly international biz again, which airline/aircraft do I shoot for? It seems like the A330 is a safe bet. I saw the post on the DL 767-400 but if I'm not mistaken, the seats on the 767-300 are the older seats, right? What about CO 777's? I know they are scheduled to be upgraded but their website doesn't show any of them done yet.

I realize I could have the best hard product and the worst soft product or vice versa on any airline. If I had to lean one way I'd say I'd rather have a better hard product.

Oh, and if at all possible, I'd like to book through NWA as that's where I have all my miles. I know I can transfer them to DL for the next few days and will if I have to but the taxes/fees still seem a little cheaper on NWA.com vs. DL.com.
Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.