Find and book with AA before March 22nd. Right now you can go F on CX/JL to SE Asia for 67.5k per person one way which is probably the best value currently on the award chart. After March 22 I think it's going up to 110k so burn those babies to SE Asia while you can.

Use QF or BA to search for CX (both) or JL (BA only) award space and then piece it together with AA flights for US domestic travel if you need to connect to the trunk leg. Then call in and phone fee will be waived since CX and JL aren't bookable online.

If you can lock in 11 months from now and are fine with that timeframe I would do it. You can get F RT for 125k AA per person and can mix and match JL and CX (e.g., JFK - NRT - HKG - DPS is valid) with AA for US domestic as noted above.

AA doesn't allow stopovers so I would book as two OW if you need an open jaw.

Then either pay cash or transfer to BA for intra-Asia travel as needed.