Originally Posted by sxpsxpsxp
Would I be better of restructuring my trip and burning my NA transcon segment on JFK-LAX and then going into MEL or perhaps even AKL and doing New Zealand first due to easier award availability?
I would look at all the options such as JFK-SYD, LAX-SYD, LAX-MEL, LAX-BNE, LAX-AKL-SYD/MEL/BNE, LAX/ORD/DFW-HNL-SYD
Originally Posted by sxpsxpsxp
Should I instead look at using the Asia tarnsit without stopover rule for my DONE4 (I'm coming back to Asia later) and go via NRT or HKG for better award availability?
You could do, but you will then be paying for 2 awards US-Asia and Asia-South Pacific
Business class is hard to come by, but if you check all the possibilities your chances increase
If using expertflyer to check availability, do be aware that it is not completely reliable for checking Qantas availability
Dave