Justcame back from a trip to Aus on points.
An option that was available to me that I didn't know about until later - when I decided I had to go back!! Is to get a charter to Hawii - which can be had really cheap from here anyway and is only a 5 hr flight for me. Then get the business class from Hawaii to Australia. Would have saved a bunch of points if I had known and were able to book. Does not look like you have that option with Contenental and the flight to Hawaii may be longer from your neck of the woods so you may want to be Business class all the way.
We did Vancouver - SanFrancisco - Sydney all business class. The flight from Vancouver to SF was a one class plane we got to sit in the first couple of rows Yippee!! The flight from SF to Sydney was a 3 class plane and Business class was excellent and very long. Worth spending the points, not worth going to first class.
Virtually every flight into Sydney arrives first thing in the morning - the airport is closed overnight and reopens at 6:00AM - 747 after 747 stacked up ready to land at 6:01.
The trip back, stopped in Hawii for a few days to "rest" before coming home. Was such a good idea. The thought of going back to work the day after flying from Aus is not a good one. This was a two class plane and nowhere near as nice as the Business class on the 3 class plane.
The down side to points to Australia - at least here - is that there are limited seats for travelling on points. I booked 12 months in advance and still could not get exactly what I wanted. I transferred my Amex points to Aeroplan instead of Contenental, which may not be an option in the US. 115,000 points rather than 150,000 for the business class seat.
