I'm not sure if this path still works, but if you can get them as AAdvantage miles, it's 50k each way:

http://boardingarea.com/viewfromthew...el-surcharges/

I haven't done this myself and it looks like you'd lose some percentage in the transfer anyway, but it's something to consider (at least for 1-way).

Also, if you have SPG points you can convert them to AA at 25,000 (AA):20,000 (SPG) and there's a 25k bonus on the SPG Amex (sometimes 30k), so that can help. I know there are also 5k referral bonuses for that card but I think they are for the referrer only.