Another option, if you are not fixated on going down under, is that you can do 6 LAX-SAL round trips, plus one LAX-IAD round trip, for about $2,300, and that will net you 35,000 q-miles, plus another 69,500 bonus miles and AA booking miles, plus an additional 35,000 elite bonus, for a total miles earned of 139,500, for less than your original $2,800, and all leaving from Southern Cal. This also gives you the option of upgrading to first using e-upgrades.