Will this ought to generate a lot of opinions.

I would like my wife to accompany me on a biz trip to Uganda. I have looked at (but not booked) fares from $1100+ on Emirates, to $1900 on NW/KLM. I am guessing that by the time I end up booking the fare could be about $1500.

On the other had, I have enough miles for an award ticket on AA (75,000 miles), though I haven't checked availability.

The question is, use miles or buy a ticket? Not sure if I buy a ticket I will be able to earn miles for all the segments.

Your ideas will be appreciated.