Originally Posted by
yeahokayillrememberthis
What fun routing would you suggest? Any airlines/routes that are best to avoid? I've been to Delhi, Istanbul, Bangkok, Beijing, and Chengdu (which are the main connection points I can think of to Nepal by air) before, but it's been a while. I'd love to see Hong Kong, but given the recent news...
Well, if you want *A all the way, the options for your last flight are Air China (LXA, CTU), Air India (DEL, CCU), Thai (BKK), or Turkish (IST).
What class of service?
A quick scan of UA's routing rules shows that your cheapest option is likely to be via CTU. They also have a route published via HKG, connecting to Cathay Dragon (not *A), and a strange route that looks like a typo -- via SIN with the last leg on Malaysian (MH)... who doesn't fly SIN-KTM. I suspect it's supposed to be SilkAir (MI), who does, but... :shrug:
The only real stopover choices you're likely to find on an inexpensive single UA ticket would be CTU, HKG, or Tokyo or Osaka -- but the latter two require that you then connect through HKG anyway.
Originally Posted by
yeahokayillrememberthis
Booking direct on United routes me ORD > SFO > CTU > KTM which is fine going, but it's $3.5k+... which will probably be too much for this client's budget. Booking legs independently is much cheaper but will I have any assurance in the case of missed connections, baggage, etc. (I typically don't check bags, but might have some purchases on the way home)? I much prefer booking all through one airline (United), but the cost is significant to do so.
Checking luggage across multiple tickets is at the discretion of the check-in airline. UA's policy is the they will do it, but only to *A airlines.
You're correct that if you book on separate tickets, you won't have protection against missed connections -- but you said you had some flexibility anyway. If you book overnight (or longer) stays between your tickets, you'll be covered, barring an exceptional delay. (I might still avoid HKG, as you pointed out).