Thanks for all the info. I am now looking for Business class seats that I can book now and then hopefully change. I was even willing to fly from NYC to Chicago and then on to Germany, just to fly LH first. There actually was availability on United but I would rather stay home than have a experience that is not worthy of all my hard work to get these points.

The ANA tool do you need points on the account to see star alliance availability?

I may also just go an book on BA and fly JFK-BOS-FRA and be in First for the overseas portion.