Thank you guys, that's all really helpful.

I followed up with the idea of purchasing through US Airways using Dividend Miles. Unfortunately, after a half hour on the phone, it appears that all of the US Airways dividend miles seats allotted are already booked on the return leg from Shanghai, for up to a week after the date I planned on returning. That pretty much rules out US Airways then.

I really like the idea of buying miles using bonus percentages and using that as credit towards a ticket, effectively cutting the cost in half.

Are there any other airlines out there that would fly to Shanghai AND currently are running discounted bonus miles promotions?