Originally Posted by number_6
There are 12 answers and not just 1 as to what country has the lowest fare ... because each of the xONEx products is priced differently and the lowest fare for DONE4 could be high for AONE4, for example. Surprising differences (even the delta between number of continents various by country of origin -- you'd think it would be a fixed percentage, also you would think the fare difference between D/A would also be a fixed percentage). Not so, and the differences are big enough that there are about 10 different countries which qualify for "best" pricing. Plus the wrinkles in the fare rules -- such as whether DXB is allowed or not -- can greatly affect the relative value of a particular country of origin.
The usual suspects for best fares/rules/schedule/availlability are: BKK, NBO, ARN, GIB, NRT, TPE. Lots more, but the right answer for a specific routing requires research, hence best to look at the spreadsheet.
And as has been mentioned here several times, the real cost must include the cost of getting to and back from the starting point.
For example we soon end a trip in CMB. MRU is about USD2000 cheaper for an AONE5 and at first glance one can get there from CMB for about USD750+ in biz. But the trip is a nightmare of really bad connections and flight times, and burns 4 days we could otherwise spend sipping drinks on a beach somewhere. Thus we elect to do CMB again.
So to the poster with the grump that no one is giving a simple answer - there isn't one.