I'm considering planning a trip for 2 to Munich, Germany sometime in mid-2011. Given that I have plenty of time, I'd like to get a feel for what I should be considering. I have only modest international travel experience and zero international award travel redemptions, so I'm hoping some more seasoned travellers can weigh in, particularly on the award redemption part. Here's my constraints:

One traveller (me!) departing from SEA, one traveller departing from SoCal (ONT/SNA/BUR/LAX are all do-able). It's OK for one/both of us to travel up/down the west coast prior to any international legs, but both travellers need to be on the same international segments. Both travellers need to be in a premium cabin for the international segments. I can barely make it to ORD in Y, there's no way I'm gonna sit in back across the Atlantic. My travel dates will be relatively fixed in late Summer 2011, but don't know exactly when yet. I may have a few days flexibility one way or another, but not much.

With those constraints, I could use some assistance deciding on an award redemption strategy. Near as I can tell, my options for redeeming AS miles are basically:

DL direct via ATL
AA 1-stop via DFW/ORD, LHR (BA)
BA direct via LHR

Miles spent are basically not a concern, but money out-of-pocket is. When I can get a roundtrip Y ticket SEA-MUC for under $1K, I'm not spending almost the same amount on BA's bogus "fuel surcharge."

Any advice welcomed.