Later this year I'd like to book 5 business award tix to Asia/Indonesia. I'm still working out the details, but we will want to hit Indonesia, Singapore, and possibly Tokyo and Shanghai. I've got points spread out all over the place but the bulk is in MR (500k) plus SPG (40k). Thus my post on this thread. FWIW: I've also got UR 170k; AA/US 215k; Delta 240k. I want to start planning my strategy now so as to earn enough of the points I need for this trip by the time I book, presumably w/ MR.

I'm thinking my best bet is going to be transferring to ANA and enduring the fuel costs, which ITA is showing at around $178 (YQ), but that seems low to me (more research needed here).

Do you guys have any suggestions as to a better MR transfer airline for these tix? Or even a way to combine MR transfer with another transfer so we can all fly together? I need to be able to do stopovers and/or open jaw. For ex: MEM-NRT(ST)-CGK then SIN-PVG(ST)-MEM. I haven't finalized our cities, but we'd like a week in Borneo, a few days in Singapore, and then a likely stop in Tokyo (possibly adding Shanghai if feasible). Total trip time 3-4 weeks.

I've considered looking at RTW options and stopping in Europe or Central Asia for additional few days, but those seem to price out with 30-50k more points. Our total mileage would be about 20k, I think, so I doubt distance based tix like Cathay Pacific would work as well.