Actually guys I can't tell you how good the above discussion makes me feel. It's nice to know I'm not the only one in the world who can't figure all these things out on first try. I really appreciate all the research and work you've already put in. Could I ask for just a general recommendation, then, on how to go about this? (To recap: I live in LA; I need to go to EBB in late June, NRT in early July, and in an ideal world CAI between those two; I need to go to London at Christmas.) Unless I hear differently, I suppose I'll probably be stuck with the original, uninteresting plan of getting round-trip tickets between all those locations and LAX. Thanks!