moondog,
Thanks for chiming in. I put your quotes in BLUE, and my reply in BLACK.
moondog: "I still don't understand why you are so dead set about flying with CZ/MU, "
allet2travel: Sorry if I appear to be stubborn. Strictly looking at ITA search engine output, MU serves me better than CZ (and *A) in terms of routing, timing and fares (difficulty getting it ticketed notwithstanding). From SIN-NNG via CAN. It gets me in NNG early afternoon, perfect! NNG-LJG via KMG. Total trip time 3h20m, perfect! LJG-SIN via KMG with 12h55min layover during the day, perfect! This allows me to tour the city. The total fare is $712.40 USD in coach (X, K & Y). I can, if possible shuffle the credits to my DL account."
moondog: "in light of the fact that Star Alliance options are better and plentiful (you might not be able to use *A on all sectors, but presumably can on the expensive ones)."
allset2travel: "You may be seeing something that I don’t and miss. So welcome to enlighten me. On ITA, I only see CA, as far as *A. I see from SIN-NNG, it tries to route me thru PEK (5+h layover) or elsewhere, lengthen the trip drastically. From NNG-LJG, it routes me thru CTU (almost 6h layover). The last segment LJG-SIN, it routes me to CTU with 9+h layover. Total fare =$1,104.80"
moondog: "I'm assuming that this trip will set you back $600+ in Y. For that same $600, you could buy enough US miles to take down the Star Alliance flights in biz (send your company/client the invoice; this practice is increasingly kosher), and still have enough money left over to buy the non *A flights you require. (I'm also assuming that UA/US miles can be used to book Silk Air flights... not 100% sure about this.)"
allset2travel: "This trip is all out of my own pocket, for a mission trip plus a bit of pleasure trip combined. I do plan to earn miles instead of burning them this time."
moondog: "In any case, if you must go the CZ/MU route, I'd be happy to help you in your quest, though my online booking experiences to date are similar to yours. Have you tried Expedia yet?"
I have tried expedia. The search engine cranks out different flights combinations (compared to ITA) even though I plugged in almost exact departure times. Hit the “SEARCH”, here is what returns, “We're Sorry; We Had A Problem With Your Selected Flights”
I do appreciate your offer to assist. So far MU comes out ahead in terms of personal preference. I would be extremely grateful I you come out with a way to book this online. Last resort, my next stop may be my friendly TA (have not used one for ages), I still have some time though.
Thanks again, moondog. ^