A couple of things:

A. I would like to stay within Star Alliance.

B. Turkish Airlines actually has a cheaper fare, but the connection in Istanbul on the way back would only be an hour, which I'm not comfortable with.

C. I would be crediting miles to Asiana Club, and the accrual rate on Air India is 100% even at discounted fares.

D. Air India's website says ORD-DEL-KTM would come out to a little under $2000 and United says DAY-ORD would be $325. Looking up on Travelocity however, says that an DAY-ORD-DEL-KTM on UA and AI would be over $2900.

Which leads me to another question. If I were to call AI's reservation center and get the whole itinerary booked under a single reservation, would the price they give me for the DAY-ORD segment be the same as the one United shows on their website?