Hello all: I am planning a trip to South Africa next summer with my son. I have the following balances:

UR: 375,000
AMEX: 550,000
AA: 400,000
SPG: 100,000
AVIOS: 100,000
Southwest: 100,000

I have several questions--so thanks for indulging me:

1. I can book--right now--the dates we want next summer on Qatar in business class from LAX-CPT-JNB-SFO. The connecting flights from SFO to LAX don't open up for another two weeks. Would you recommend grabbing those flights and paying for the SF-LAX round trip separating (using $$/Avios/SW points)? Or do you think it's likely those flights are "low demand"?

2. The total on Qatar is 150,000 per person in Biz (so 300,000 total). If I transfer my AMEX miles into ANA, we can book business class tickets for 104,000 each (208,000 total)! Some of the options are to fly Turkish business, South Africa business or maybe Virgin Atlantic (which sounds amazing). I believe that the YQs will be pretty substantial, however. That's quite a miles savings--but don't know how easy it is to get those awards and the cost could be several hundred dollars (or even close to $1500). Is it worth it?

3. I've heard Qatar business class is great. If points were not the issue, which biz to South Africa would you prefer?

Thanks very much for your help. If you need more info, please let me know.