My wife is having a milestone birthday this year and she would like to go to Sydney. We'd be flying from MSY and going for 10-11 days.

My original plan was to try to find a Saver Biz award for her and try to use a GPU for my ticket. I've almost come to the conclusion that that would be an exercise in futility to be able to coordinate that. I've seen very little available on UA for biz awards or "R" class.

I was trying to only fly UA metal, but today, I noticed that there is quite a bit of Saver Biz from LAX and SFO on *A partners. Therefore, I'm now thinking about award tickets for both of us.

My nitial question is, of these airlines, Air Canada, New Zealand, Air China, Asiana, and United, which would provide the best experience in business class to SYD? I even saw some "F" Saver availability on Air China for the return to LAX and SFO. Would Air China in First be worth it, even though connecting through PEK?

Thanks in advance for any help.