Originally Posted by Kacee

Needed a return from BKK-SFO early June, best UA option was a RT HKG-SFO (W/R), pricing at $18xx. No PZ, but both flights looked like a decent chance of clearing the upgrade. For BKK-HKG RT, best option was EK for $614 RT. This would have required an overnight at HKG on the BKK-SFO leg. And also a daytime SFO departure / late night BKK arrival. So total price of $24xx, no confirmed upgrades on the long-hauls, and a less than ideal schedule which basically wastes a night at each end.

Option two was CX for $3214 RT, with a wide range of flight times, including what I consider ideal departures (6:55 pm from BKK, 1:15 am from SFO). Accruing 20k AS elite qualifying miles and approx 54k redeemable AS miles. Not to mention excellent CX lounges at BKK, HKG, and SFO. (By comparison, the NH/UA combo, with significantly less convenient timing, prices at $5497.)

This is why I still have seven unused GPU.