Originally Posted by
Stgermainparis
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 don't like your chances of finding five seats on the same flights in business class on the TPACs, even booking a long way in advance.
That said, I would take a look at SQ. You would need to pay for or otherwise book a ticket to one of their west coast gateways (SFO or LAX), but the one-way business class from SFO-SIN or CGK on Singapore metal is 68k (or about 91k in first), and they have very good availability through Krisflyer. Be prepared for very steep fuel charges, but they do allow one stopover on a roundtrip. I priced LAX-NRT-SIN-CGK(dest)-SIN(stop)-NRT-LAX at 136k and ~$800 per person, and I found two business class seats on the first dates I tried in November.
One other nice thing about SQ is that they are a transfer partner of everyone (MR, UR, SPG, TYP), so you can combine your points easily.
If you want to fly around Asia once you are over there, BA Avios are a pretty good deal for short flights, and their fuel surcharges on CX and JL generally are not that bad.