Hi all, first time point user here... I'm looking at booking two tickets from SLC -> MLE in May for our 25th anniversary. I have about 300k points to use between Chase and Capital One. I don't have enough to outright book business class, but I'd like to upgrade on at least one of our segments, preferably SFO or LAX to DXB. What's the best way to accomplish this? I'm planning on purchasing economy seats early next week. When i'm booking it says that the flight can be upgraded with a certain amount of points, but there are no upgrades available at the time, even though expertflyer says that there are award seats available on the flight. Do they open up upgrades closer to the travel date, or are they just gone? I'm trying to travel middle of the week if possible.

Also, we'd discussed spending a couple days in Dubai, but if I try to book with a stopover, the price goes way up. Any ideas how to accomplish this?