I am looking at cheapest possible way to get to Asia from IST, KU may be the choice which has ongoing low fares without waiting for flash sales.

Right now IST-BKK/MNL rt for $910/$970 respectively ($950 open jaw depending on your scheduling need), and you earn between 20000 and 25000 Oasis Miles if you sign up with Oasis Club, in KU you earn 100%/200%/300% in any revenue Y/J/F classes. See the manual.

http://s3images.coroflot.com/user_fi...rqKduJLYOC.pdf

If you top up those miles with less than 20K miles purchase you can redeem JFK-KWI (or anywhere in GCC like Dubai) in J with 37500 miles within 3 years. The catch is, as previous poster mentioned, you need to go to ticket offices to redeem 1 way award.

If you're flexible with schedules, plan ahead, and don't mind extra effort this is the cheapest way to fly long haul J.