Thanks all for your comments!

headinclouds, Johnosan: thanks for the clarification. I read the rules and saw it could possibly be interpreted either way - one of the reasons for my post.

christep: only really planning HKG for about 4 days and NRT for about 2 - we've been to both before and know exactly where we want to go. I'm allowing flying time in addition. BOM would be just a MR - *maybe* we'd spend one day but unlikely. (But I've checked the timetables and flight times are not entirely friendly. We may drop this altogether and use the sectors in NA or Australia.)

The *purpose* of this trip is to go to Europe to visit family. Everything else is a bonus that costs effectively nothing in airfares so we can afford to target it quite precisely.

Being able to pass through the point of origin more than once would be handy - saves stupid MEL-SYD trips.

Visiting F lounges isn't vital, by the way!

Thanks for your suggested routings - I'll have a play with them.

Audrey