Originally Posted by CosmicGirl

Thank you. So my plan can work. TYO is more of a draw than LAX as I've never been to Japan so I really want more than 24hrs there. I appreciate the suggestion, though.

How much of a margin would I need between published MPM and what GCM tells me? IST-NRT-LAX is 11054 on GCM, so there's a 333-mile margin. Is that enough to cover differences between AP and GCM distances?

Originally Posted by Smiley90

It is indeed KVStools. I prefer it over expertflyer, mostly because I never figured out how to properly navigate that site... and kvstools is easy Okay, here's version 2.0, fitted into your schedule.

It literally can't get any tighter than this with award availability, and I had to replace ADD with CAI to make it work for MPM on the outbound. Hope that still counts as touching Africa? I know you mentioned skipping the NA layover but I couldn't find anything better YOW-Europe, getting there at 6am is just about the earliest there is. That just happens to include a BOS layover. Same for ZRH. I had to drop ADL because any routing with it would break MPM on the inbound since you'd have to backtrack via SIN/BKK/TPE and that breaks MPM when trying to route via South America. SIN-MEL-LAX availability and schedule was actually better than SYD, so I used that and tried to give it most time there for arranging extra travelling. You can either drop time in HKG to allow more time for MEL/ADL, or have ~25h in either place. Both works, both has availability. I had to edit this post multiple times because every routing through ADL kept breaking things and I needed to keep both under MPM...

Outbound: yow-bos-zrh-vie-cai-dxb-bkk-hkg-sin-adl: 16834mi (this might cut it VERY close on the MPM. It's literally TEN MILES under the MPM you had in your original post)
Inbound: mel-lax-sal-gye-uio-pty-ewr-yow: 14823mi

a) insanity
b) two broken backs
c) 10h in BOS (NA)
d) 6.5h in ZRH (Europe)
e) 4h in CAI (you BARELY get to touch Africa. Maybe.)
f) 17h in DXB (Middle East?)
g) 4hr or 28hr in HKG (Asia)
h) 50hr or 26hr in MEL, arrange own travel to/from ADL (Oceania)
i) 7h in LAX (NA 2.0)
j) 12.5h in GYE (SA 1.0)
k) 16h in UIO (SA 2.0)

SUN 21 Oct 2018 2 SeatS
Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Award Availability
AC/QK 8044 YOW 06:20 BOS 07:44 CRJ 0 YS+
-> LX 55 BOS 17:00 ZRH 06:15 +1 333 0 YS+

MON 22 Oct 2018 2 Seats
LX 1578 ZRH 12:45 VIE 14:05 320 0 YS+
-> MS 798 VIE 15:30 CAI 18:50 738 0 YS+

MON 22 Oct 2018 2 Seats
MS 910 CAI 22:30 DXB 04:00 +1 333 0 CS+ YS+

TUE 23 Oct 2018 2 Seats
TG 518 DXB 20:55 BKK 06:30 +1 359 0 YS+
-> TG 600 BKK 08:00 +1 HKG 11:45 +1 773 0 YS+

WED 24 Oct 2018 2 Seats
SQ 861 HKG 15:40 SIN 19:35 388 0 YS+
-> SQ 227 SIN 22:00 MEL 08:15 +1 77W 0 YS+ OOOOOORRRRRRR
THU 25 Oct 2018 2 Seats
SQ 861 HKG 15:40 SIN 19:35 388 0 YS+
-> SQ 227 SIN 22:00 MEL 08:15 +1 77W 0 YS+

SAT 27 Oct 2018 2 Seats
UA 99 MEL 10:25 LAX 06:35 789 0 YS+

SAT 27 Oct 2018 2 Seats
AV/TA 523 LAX 13:37 SAL 19:30 321 0 YS+
-> AV/TA 593 SAL 20:10 GYE 00:15 +1 320 0 YS+

SUN 28 Oct 2018 2 Seats
AV/2K 1703 GYE 12:55 UIO 13:50 319 0 CS+ YS+

MON 29 Oct 2018 2 Seats
CM 210 UIO 06:06 PTY 08:03 738 0 YS+
-> UA 1022 PTY 09:30 EWR 15:41 738 0 YS+
-> AC/QK 8857 EWR 21:05 YOW 22:30 CRJ 0 YS+

Originally Posted by colinmack

I can't thank you enough - that looks great and hits everything, it would have taken me ages (if at all) to work it out. My brother asked me to try and tweak the start and end to allow for photo-ops in CAI/SYD, and I found a set of cheap flights to get to/from ADL outside of the Aeroplan booking (ADL is there so we can see a close friend after 25 years, so even if it's short and symbolic we don't want to miss it). Here's the result, which I think looks doable (?):

Sun. Oct 21: AC8986 YOW 14:20 YUL 15:02; AC1902 YUL 18:55 ATH 11:05 +1; MS748 ATH 13:30 +1 CAI 14:20 +1
Mon. Oct 22: MS910 CAI 22:30 DXB 04:00 +1
Tue. Oct 23: TG518 DXB 20:55 BKK 06:30 +1; TG600 BKK 08:00 +1 HKG 11:45 +1
Thu. Oct 25: SQ861 HKG 15:40 SIN 19:35; SQ227 SIN 22:00 MEL 08:15 +1
Sat. Oct 27: UA842 SYD 10:30 LAX 06:10
Sat. Oct 27: CM473 LAX 11:20 PTY 20:00
Sat. Oct 27: CM211 PTY 21:31 UIO 23:29
Mon. Oct 29: AV456 UIO 05:05 SAL 07:00; AV444 SAL 08:00 BOS 14:40; AC8049 BOS 18:05 YOW 19:28

The MPM for MEL appears to be 16521, and the inbound/outbound routes are 16470/14894 respectively, so I think I'm within the limit, and I assume the Open Jaw between MEL/SYD isn't an issue? Slightly higher fees for the YUL-ATH flight, but it seemed to be the only option that allowed my brother to see the pyramids :-)

Does that seem workable?

Originally Posted by Smiley90

Unfortunately an OJ IS an issue, as it's only possible at your destination and replaces one of your stopovers - so if you do a MEL/SYD OJ, you can't ALSO do stopovers in HKG&DXB. Just the way AP works, unfortunately...

Originally Posted by Smiley90

MPM is dictated by city furthest from origin, not by cost.

FYI If you made TYO a layover instead of a stopover, it isn't used for cost calculation at all.

Originally Posted by Smiley90

Hopefully, but the only way to know is to give AP a call.

Originally Posted by CosmicGirl

I just got off the phone with AP and was told the following.

For IST-LAX (POT) MPM would be 11300, whereas for LAX-TYO-IST MPM would be 11350. I was surprized to get two different numbers, neither one of which matches the MPM I found with the Java command (11387). Is that normal?
Secondly, she told me that the only way to get from TYO to IST is via ICN or PEK as any other connections exceed the MPM and availability for those is a challenge. So back to the drawing board. Thanks for your help.

Originally Posted by Smiley90

If you only want/need TYO and LAX, why don't you pick a random city with really high MPM from your origin as the destination and then use LAX and TYO as stopovers? You can even spend less than 24h at the destination if you really don't care about it. What's your actual origin? That way you also don't have to start from IST. not sure what's furthest from central Europe, maybe south america? Australia?

Originally Posted by CosmicGirl

LON/FRA/PAR/BRU/DUS/AMS are all very doable as my origin, but unfortunately even HNL doesn't cover the MPM I would need. Australia is the only thing I've found with generous MPM, but I don't have enough miles for that and no easy way to earn them. I'll look into South America tomorrow, thanks for the tip.

Originally Posted by CosmicGirl

I just got off the phone with AP and was told the following.

For IST-LAX (POT) MPM would be 11300, whereas for LAX-TYO-IST MPM would be 11350. I was surprized to get two different numbers, neither one of which matches the MPM I found with the Java command (11387). Is that normal?
Secondly, she told me that the only way to get from TYO to IST is via ICN or PEK as any other connections exceed the MPM and availability for those is a challenge. So back to the drawing board. Thanks for your help.

Originally Posted by Smiley90

If you only want/need TYO and LAX, why don't you pick a random city with really high MPM from your origin as the destination and then use LAX and TYO as stopovers? You can even spend less than 24h at the destination if you really don't care about it. What's your actual origin? That way you also don't have to start from IST. not sure what's furthest from central Europe, maybe south america? Australia?

Originally Posted by Jay71

I'm sure it's all over the place but I'm curious what kind of luggage strategy people employ. Carry-on and backpack as a personal item or do you check your luggage? If flying business class, is it worth checking you luggage with the expectation that your luggage will hopefully come out early? Do you get a hotel room for your 24 hr layovers or do you dump your bags at a locker or left luggage at the airport? Are your decisions airport/airline dependent?

Originally Posted by TJ1010F

Is YYZ-East Africa-Australia-YYZ possible for non-Perth locations? I suspect there may be no way to do it with the MPM.
We are interested in NBO in East Africa most likely and would love to pair it with a mini-rtw hitting Australia but have a preference to SYD/MEL. Just wondering if this is physically possible. I've seen ppls itineraries with NBO-PER just not any of these others. Thanks!