Originally Posted by
sbm12
Why? It isn't a mileage run.
Totoro, you seem to have discovered one of the problems with convoluted routings to Asia - the cheap fares don't earn as well. BR is an option but there you only earn on the very top fares (C, Y, K), even more limited than NH or SQ. I would be willing to bet that the cheaper fare you found earns zero.
Are you actually stopping in each of the noted cities? I think that you'll probably end up on a rather convoluted mix of carriers to make this happen and I wouldn't expect it to be a cheap ticket at all.
I wish to stop at each of the noted cities, not necessarily fly non-stop between them. I should have clarified that since no non-stops exist SAN-SIN and TPE-IAH. I have no objection to connecting at SFO or NRT for those city pairs, respectively.
I thought perhaps I missed some particular trick. Even booking open-jaw out of LAX to SIN, returning from TPE with separate domestic tickets doesn't yield much more savings.
Perhaps I'll just drop the SAN visit and book BWI-SIN with TPE as stopover on the way back. NW flights used to price out very reasonably to TPE with stopovers in HNL or NRT. Do you have any idea how to make this work on UA?