I would very definitely recommend C, it's possibly one of the best value C awards available if you can get it. You will be exhausted after the trip anyway but being able to lie down makes a big difference and basically adds a day or 2 to your vacation. Otherwise a layover on the way there will help.
I have booked a few US-CPT award trips over the years. My favorite routing (since SA cancelled LHR-CPT) from the west coast is through MUC and on to the direct flight to CPT. You get to skip having to navigate JNB. But it only operates half the year or so and only on a few days of the week.
My general advice is to search from the gateways. JFK, IAD, MUC, FRA to JNB.
One other question, why August? Cape Town weather can be pretty miserable then, you can also have clear days, but if you can delay a month the end of September is generally much nicer weather.
Last edited by escapefromphl; May 19, 2013 at 11:20 am