I'm looking to take my wife to South Africa next fall, traveling business class. I have enough Marriott points to trade in for 240K points on US Airways, BA, UA, Continental, or Delta. According to the Star Alliance guide, this should be enough to get both of us to Africa in business class on the star alliance partners, I don't know about the others.

We're meeting up with friends in CPT to start a 3 week tour, which will end up in JNB. I'm going crazy trying to figure out the best routing. I can fly South Africa Air through Dakar, or Northwest through Amsterdam, or BA through London. Does anyone have any suggestions, or at least what to avoid? I traveled quite a bit before I retired, but I no longer have a travel department to help me! Actually, I think a niche business exist for an expert in FF award travel. Thanks in advance for your help