So far, I have on hold LAX-JFK-DOH-DEL. I found availability DEL-NRT and DEL-HKG in business without problems on most days. Now the challenge seems to be NRT and HKG back to LAX. Pretty much unavailable. Does anyone know if these flights frequently open up at the last-minute? If so, I could speculatively book something just to put it in the system and change flights when available.

I even tried SAN which is about a 90 minute drive from our place in Orange County, and found decent availability returning NRT-SAN on JAL. Certainly worth the drive, but the total routing is now 20005 miles and pushes me into the next mileage tier of Explorer Awards. So close :-(

I did look at Air Berlin too, but service to LAX is seasonal. No direct flights on Iberia either from LA. If only United had not devalued their miles, this last-minute India trip would have been easy.