WineCountryUA: Thanks for the response! I had a hard time finding my post again.
So we decided we are going to Hainan for a special trip for my inlaws (father-in-laws father was from there) and kids. I can't find a way to get to Hainan Airport (HMA) through mileage awards and it looks like HKG is the closest major airport with lots of flights to HMA or by ferry.
So based on some of the advice, I can book the following options. The same seats I found were prohibitively expensive and it doesn't seem like the miles I would accrue from buying my seat would be any better than just buying 2 cents/mile. I also looked at the Upgrade seats by booking an Economy seat and there are only waitlist upgrades.
Here is the return flight:
Option 1 For 60k miles / person:
Business Class
OZ746 (Airbus A330-300) - 1230AM - 5AM (3 Hours 30 Min) HKG - ICN
Layover 11 hours and 30 Minutes
OZ214 (Boeing 777-200) - 430PM - 1045AM (10 Hours 15 Min) ICN - SFO
Option 2 For 70k miles/person:
First Class
UA862 (Boeing 747-400) 1130AM - 9AM (12 Hour 30 Minutes) HKG - SFO
What would be best in this situation for the return flight? Having never flown much to this region, I am worried about the jetlag and sleep time to best optimize the kids and me for school and work.
Option 2: It SEEMS like the direct flight would cause us to be awake the entire time and fall asleep after we get home. Without getting into a discussion of kids in first class (my kids are well behaved), it still would be better for us to be sleeping to acclimate. From a seating perspective, it seems the center four seats (2 adults and 2 kids) and two window seats for the in-laws would work best so that we could sit side by side.
Option 1: It seems there is more sleep time during the second leg since the ICN-SFO flight is "overnight", but the layover and flight schedule might be too strenuous for the in-laws and the kids -and maybe me! Or because it is so tiring, maybe we will all sleep on the flight home?
I believe I would have lounge access in ICN with showers so we could all freshen up before the long flight home. Does this sound crazy?
Has anyone done this?
Thanks for you help!