I found a routing for $267 from BTV, returning to YUL which I don't think I can use sadly:
https://www.google.com/flights/#sear...-IADYUL0UA4723
Instead of arriving in YUL at midnight (or IAD at 7:30 PM), you can get a red eye SFO-IAD and arrive in YUL late morning on the 12th for $295:
https://www.google.com/flights/#sear...-IADYUL1UA4625
Completing the r/t requires two nights in HGH and a $16 bus ticket YUL to BTV.
Originally Posted by
mspel
FYI, for anyone who is doing a MR from the east coast, you can get the trip down to 1.25 cpm with creative routings. You can force 3 stops in each direction. For optimal routing from East coast to China, force South East (like IAH), West Coast (like SFO) and Japan (like KIX). This will net you nearly 23K miles and possible at as low as $259 from what I've found. Also look to finish in smaller Canadian cities.
I'm curious if my itinerary above has room for these modifications. ITA doesn't replicate the above Google Flights output so I'm not sure what the fare basis is (and I can't say I'm an expert at parsing the fare rules either!).