Thanks to everyone for all the input. I guess we'll use American miles for business class tickets, unless something changes between now and 330 days before our flight. Maybe by then things will change & we'll be able to buy coach seats on Qantas & use American miles to upgrade. The other option I've been toying with is something I read about recently, maybe here at FT, regarding using west coast consolidators who offer cheap premium cabin fares, usually on 2nd tier Asian carriers, although somehow that doesn't sound like such a great idea.