Advice regarding trip from YYZ to KUL
 

I'll be going to KUL from Sept 8th to Oct 16th. I have 200000 points and here are the options I have so far looked at:

Option 1:
Flight to KUL: YYZ - YVR - TPE - KUL (all business class on BR)
Flight to YYZ: KUL - SIN - ICN - LAX - YYZ (first class from ICN - LAX with Asiana and business for the rest)

Option 2:
Flight to KUL: YYZ - YVR - TPE - KUL (all business class)
Flight to YYZ: KUL - SIN- TPE - SFO - YYZ (business class with BR and economy from SFO to YYZ with AC)

Option 3:
Flight to KUL: YYZ - YVR - TPE - KUL (all business class)
Flight to YYZ: KUL - BKK- MUN - YYZ (first class from BKK to MUN and economy from MUN to YYZ on AC)

Which option you would pick? Also, do you guys have any better options that I have not thought of yet?

Option 1 - avoid economy and enjoy Asiana F.

I'd pick option 3 in an effort to avoid transiting through a United States airport.

I understand that but from what I've heard Thai Airways first class is not as good as Asiana plus I'm flying economy from Munich to YYZ

I would go with Option 1 because;
Departure isn't through the USA and EVA is a known entity(consistent quality, excellent cabin, decent F&B). I assume YYZ-YVR is on AC because BR only does YYZ-TPE or YVR-TPE.
Too bad you cannot get the YYZ-TPE direct flight.
Arrival: Yes you transit through LAX but the advantage is that once you go through the USA, you are less likely to be pulled aside by Canada customs. (My experience.) When I fly via LAX I usually stop over because the BR or TG flight arrived early evening and the best I can connect to is the redeye to YYZ and that isn't what I want. I go get a good nights sleep and fly the next morning. If you can make a decent connection, with about 3-4 hours time, you will be ok. LAX customs can take 1-2 hours on a bad day.

F on OZ is what its business class should be. Sorry to say but my J class with OZ is less than impressive. F will make their flight acceptable. OZ is overhyped. On the positive side the OZ F lounge is as good as the EVA lounge in TPE or a CX lounge in HKG.

Why would you even consider accepting any segment in Y? They want 200K and their charges, then let them give you the cabin that goes with it.

I would go with option 1 since I don't sit in Y on long flights.

P.S. I think when you say MUN, what you mean is Munich, whose airport code is MUC. MUN is in Venezuela.

I would most definitely rule out any option that has you sitting in Y for more than 1-2h.

So my vote goes to option 1.:)

Sorry, I missed the economy part.

I personally now avoid Asiana due to safety concerns after the San Francisco however both Thai and Asiana have a great premium product.

Perhaps Option 4 can be explored (one that involves flying home in a premium cabin) in an effort to avoid flying through the Ununited States.

You seem to really want to avoid the US.

As someone with GE and Pre✓, I wouldn't ever worry myself.

We don't know if the OP has any easy way to bypass lines in LAX, but a Canadian passport and a J ticket is pretty good on both counts.

Unless I've missed it, we're assuming OP has a Canadian passport. I know a number of people in YYZ who do not have one, and try to avoid the US due to needing Visas, and more.

But, assuming no issues in that said I'd take any non-Y option. So #1 .

There are no TK options in J? that'd be awesome Mini-RTW
YYZ-IST-KUL if possible

and there's no BR YYZ-TPE at all? too bad

Check out my thread in signature also, personally I'd avoid YQ carriers like TG/Asiana/AC if possible

Option 1 for sure - avoid Y for any long haul.

US CBP isn't too bad even without GE if you use Mobile Passport. TSA however is invariably a gong show without Pre, particularly LAX. I would take option 1.

Have you priced out the surcharges and fees on each of these? The BKK MUC YYZ one sounds like it's gonna be pricey.

Hate to break it to you but Thai was banned from new routes to the US (or adding more lift) up until a year ago, specifically due to maintenance issues/records. ICAO had Thai 'red flagged' as well. Maybe they even still do?

When was the last time they lined up on a taxiway?

Ha! Exactly.

These are fairly easy choices...except...

I wouldn't bother for F if it's a short segment. Now ICN-LAX is long, so go for it, but you pay a premium considering none of the other flights are F.

But the other ones are kinda terrible. I wouldn't mind doing like SFO-YVR in Y, no biggie, but SFO-YYZ is a lengthy ride considering you're already paying the premium on points to take it in Y. And hell no to Option 3 MUN-YYZ that far in Y, pass. I'd do it if the whole ticket is Y, but not when you're already paying the J/F price.

I think TG runs the old 744 between MUC and BKK; its tired. If you can fly FRA-BKK you'll get a 380 or 350 which Is a step up in f or j. LHR has the 380 as well both options are better than OZ in 772, if your stuckflying out of MUC on TG, I'd avoid the 744 entirely.

You can save some points by doing 2 one-ways - pay F points for one direction,
and J points for the other.

Since there are no stopovers this should be the plan. Paying round trip F points for just one segment would be nuts.

Yea, I actually just did this recently, was trying for a mini-rtw but I just couldn't make the cities/dates work. Was trying for YVR-EWR-BKK-YOW-YVR but the availability just wasn't there and the YQ was a joke because I couldn't escape AC.

In the end I cancelled and booked 2 one ways, one way in creative Y and the other way in J.

did you look at flying out of Seattle?

I am assuming that options 1 and 3 cost a lot more miles than option 2 because of the presence of a first class flight? That might enter in the equation.

You should also note that YVR-TPE on BR is not the same quality as YYZ-TPE because the YVR route has an angle-flat seat while the YYZ route has a lie-flat seat. It looks like you cannot get YYZ-TPE so it is what it is, but for the same amount of miles I would have a strong preference for flying from YYZ direct and avoid a transfer in YVR, if given the choice.

Was the angle flat on the 747? Cuz the YVR flight is now 777-300ER, seatguru claims it's 180 degrees flat bed. I can't say I've been in the cabin yet, but the change was made to 777 mid way through Jul.

I did and while it helped a little bit, it didn't SOLVE my issues, so I bailed on it.

It was the 747. I was not aware that they changed the route from the 747 to the 777 last month. Good news!

Actually it appears it's not just the YVR route. They entirely retired their 744 fleet:

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...ger-ai-440440/

Between that and CI now running an A350 on the TPE-YVR route, it's cutting in to our ability to make 747@YVR jokes...