Thanks to all!

We checked out all options. Amex 2-4-1 meant spending about $8000 for what we wanted... and at $10 an hour, that meant a lifetime of massages in Thailand and Indonesia. TG looked great but woulda been around $12K!

Finally, ended up deciding tohat maybe the Delta free deal wasn't so bad... took a bit of miles rearranging (didn't want to 'spend' my "old miles" on new rewards, so transferred new miles to my partner.

DID end up changing to KUL-BKK, and treating ticket as an open jaw. We'll try out airasia from BKK-KUL-DPS and just pay for that leg...and likely , our own way LAX-JFk to avoid a 20 hour layovr for DL free ticket on song!

I can taste the Moh Krob and Nasi Goreng as I type.

Again, you folks are wonderful!
Steve