Just booked a business class positioning flight - speculatively from West Coast USA to IST in Oct! The only possible month I can do this. Fully refundable. Great miles price! Cheapest saver.

Hate flying economy on long haul. Though this ticket I found is not direct, 2 stops vs the non-stop Turkish flight. So we'll see....

Got my estimated flight cost to places I mostly would go, looking at $5k USD right now. Well..plenty of time to decide, have a place holder for now.

No interest in Australia. Spent plenty of time there in 2023 driving thousands of miles on both coasts and Tasmania. Can always find something "new" -- but that trip is mostly a waste.
Another place in S.Amer is already part of a much bigger trip this year, but I could do a small section ahead of time, or end the trip in S.America, and fly back on a separate S.Amer-USA ticket - but that would increase costs.

We'll see.