With the Qantas business class flights disappearing almost as soon as they hit inventory, I am trying to work out my contigency plan to use *A miles.

I've decided to go with the UA miles. Even though 110k US is much cheaper, I would need to transfer SPG points and the value of 60k SPG should technically be higher than the additional 70k US I need. Moreover, it is likely I may want to change to do a stop in Asia or spend a few nights in Hawaii and my 1k status will let me do this for free.

So my next question is:
Which is the best *A airline to route through Asia in terms of seat?

The three possibilities seem to be: Asiana, ANA, Thai.

It seems Asiana has best availability through ICN, but ANA through NRT also seems possible. Which of these do lie flat in business from NYC to the hub? Seatguru says they don't, but I have had flights on Brussels Airlines, for example, that turned out to be lie flat unexpectedly.

If I am not mistaken, according to this piece in WSJ 'The race to offer better sleep at 35,000 feet', ANA should have lie flat seats on NYC-NRT. Is this correct?