What CX fares are eligible for BA EC US (presumably the one you're enrolled in?) You can fly JFK-YVR 2 R/Ts. The lowest published ex-JFK fare is over US$700 once taxes are included, about US$350 going the other way (ex-YVR). $1,000 for some 15k miles doesn't sound so good.
I guess you could always fly a cheap intro fare to YVR (as low as US$256+tax) on AC, AA, TW or HP and get the 5k bonus and some 15k in flight and Q miles for the same. Still a bit expensive.
Otherwise consider JFK-BKK, KUL or JKT