Re: paying for it ... yeap - I know it's pretty extreme (about $5,200 USD or thereabouts, I believe), but it's something that I'm opened to.
As far as the companion ticket goes - that sounds almost like what I'm looking for, but am still not 100% clear on the process. Do I basically book a full-fare ticket and then as long as there's space a companion ticket is available or does it still come as an award seat (which would be a problem, since I didn't see ANY) ?
I do have a Canadian AMEX Plat, but CX is not a member of IAP anyways for Canada (Canadian Plat AMEX benefits are horrible compared to the USA ones), so that's prob not an option.