OP here - it is a OW award for 2x pax. The routing is:

YVR-LHR-LUN

LVI-JNB-CPT

CPT-JNB-MAD

MAD-BRU-JFK-SFO (this I will try and change).

So - AA, BA, and IB are being used. CX availability has been nil. I had a great CPT-LHR direct, but switched to the IB flight to achieve OW - this allowed for 2 stopovers in Africa.

After looking at fares etc - I'll likely do the YVR thing, and buy a ticket from SFO there. 10+ hours in Club World seems better than 2x AA flights in recliners. The one way far to YVR is about $160.

Its a shame AS is not OW. Im now looking for a way to incorporate an IB flight in Europe only, and getting my CPT-LHR nonstop back. Then again, avoiding LHR is pretty great...

Thanks for the suggestions.