Based on my experience trying to book two J award tickets out of SJC, availability is poor - (waitlisted even when I looked into it 6 months out, actually decided to book 3 months out). You have to watch open seats and availability and possibly shift your dates around as seats open up. Vancouver seems to frequently have award seating available, as does Houston and Chicago- might be worth flying to one of those airports, then catching your J award seats outbound.