Originally Posted by eponymous_coward

Along with what jackal mentioned, read the OP's post:



Can't open jaw with a stopover on an AS award on CX- AS allows one or the other, not both. (I also know this from personal experience.)

Adding paid coach positioning flights onto the award is certainly possible, but also note the OP is discussing two people, and this expense reduces the value of the award, since now you're shelling out cash for tickets to do the LAX-XXX segment that you could just use to pay for LAX-BKK flights (plus the extra time you're baking into more flights as opposed to the nonstop).

I'd also avoid doing LAX-SFO on a separate ticket without a lot of padding (more than you would think for such a short flight), because SFO gets hosed by wx so often, and the short-distance flights are the ones punished for this. The first flight of the day is usually the best one for on-time purposes. (If AS was a oneworld carrier, this policy would make me a little more willing to cut corners on separate tickets, and, say fly AA on a tighter connection LAX-SFO to CX SFO-HKG, but since AS isn't, that should be accounted for on purchasing for positioning flights: if you miss the CX flight you're at the mercy of AS and CX to fly you).