My business takes from SFO to BKK about 4X a year, and I had been quite pleased to discover CXLeverage, which had offered J fares of between $2400 and $2500. Coupled with Repeat Rewards, I figured I was doing quite well.

I went to book the next trip, and was shocked to find the fare went up to nearly $3000. As it is my company, the extra $500 is not insignificant.

I did note that SFO-HKG-TPE is still reasonable ... $2200. As both travel days are basically wasted, I was thinking of flying SFO-TPE, and then taking BR in Evergreen Deluxe from TPE to BKK. BR lists the RT fare at 12500 TWD.

Questions:

(1) Is this the best alternative, given that I still want to earn repeat rewards, and I need 14K Q-Points on AA for EXP from this trip. Are there discount J fares from ethnic TA's that will get me to BKK on CX for the same $2500?

(2) If I go for the routing via TPE, will I need to coolect my luggage, clear customs, and then check into the BR flight, or can I check bags thru to BKK with both tickets?

(3) Is there some other solution I am missing here?

Thanks