You'll probably find that US will be tough to allow redemption at the "low" award category for their "Envoy" class across the Atlantic when you search their website. Don't fall prey and book a "medium" or "high" category award. It's a waste of your points.

I also don't know if VCE service starts by April, as it's seasonal and usually operates May-Sep, so you would probably be on a partner/*A carrier anyway.

Setup an ANA account (All Nippon Airways). Use their Partner award search feature (it's free, even if you have zero points). Search long haul segments to Star Alliance airline hubs first like LAX/SFO/ORD/JFK/EWR - FRA/MUC/ZUR. On all of these, the business class option will probably be sufficient and give you a very nice premium product.

Once you find a few good long haul options, then search your connecting options like PHX-LAX/SFO/ORD/JFK/EWR and on the other end search for things like FRA-BCN, VCE-FRA, etc.

Once you have your list of available routes compiled, call US Airways and ask for partner award redemptions, armed with your list. Hopefully the flights you found are also available to the agent to book for you.

Be prepared, however, for hefty fuel surcharges on some airlines (like LH). Free is never free any more. I flew to Italy a month ago and chose UA (from NYC) instead of LH because the taxes were only about $75 per ticket (businessFirst tickets) vs. LH that wanted something like $700 per ticket in fuel surcharges.