I'm no expert on which program is absolute best, but I am familiar with flying to bangkok on miles, as we have made 4 trips there. We have had decent luck finding availability with american and continental airlines. Continental requires less miles to SE asia than do most airlines. We do however book our dates almost a year ahead. Main thing for us is that we prefer to be on a foreign airline for the long part of the journey. Korean air or japan air are both great. Our experiences with american based airlines not near as catering.