And again, I have been told that 4 seats is quite the feat, so you might need to consider splitting up -- say 2 in one airline, 2 in another, or even 2 seats one day and 2 the next, since you wouldn't want to do 2 in F and 2 in Y.
You can meet the spend, trust me.

If you have to buy washing machines at Sears and reselling them for a marginal loss, or paying fees to pay your car note via chargesmart, you can meet the spend. If you can get the cards, get them and churn. Don't let any spending requirement stop you.
I wouldn't count on a US/AA merger, or even a GS2012. That would be nice to have, but you should assume you're gonna have to find the miles "the hard way".
And again, because of the fact you need 4 seats, don't be afraid to split up if you need to. Maybe work OW for 2 seats on one carrier and *A for 2 seats on another. Most people would say this is a bad idea (and it is) but considering what you need, that might be the only way for everyone to go at the same time -- and even then that might be iffy.
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