Good catch. However I am not sure if this is true or the AA web site needs to be updated.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/ea...nes/etihad.jsp

Finally I see that on AA web site. Great news. Etihad is not yet one world partner but looks like award availability is very generous.

http://aa.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=3361

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/

For Star Alliance, Turkish , Thai and Air China fly into Karachi...
Qatar Airways is a partner of many of Star Alliance airlines like United etc... so you can also travel on Qatar but it has to be booked Round Trip ... No Mix and match airlines allowed...
For OneWorld, Cathay Pacific and Etihad/Gulf Air (for AA members) are the best bet ..Although CX does not have good connections from US West Coast usually 8-10 hour stopover from West Coast to KHI. Malaysian will be joining OW from next year..
For Skyteam members, Saudi Arabian airlines will be joining from next year.. For now Delta Skymiles members can redeem miles on Malaysian airlines...

I hope more international carriers start flights from Pakistan soon.....

I somehow missed Air China to Karachi, thanks for pointing that out.

The problem is that no North American or European airlines fly to Pakistan, which really limits options, especially from the east coast.

Well, they all used to go there but there's no point anymore. There's not enough traffic to sustain it that even BA pulled out. KHI isn't really in a great place for connections to anywhere (except India... but obviously that doesn't work), PK is a poor airline at best, and the political situation in Pakistan is too dangerous for most people to consider transiting through there. That would be almost like asking people on the street if they'd like to transit through KBL. That's not to mention the meteoric rise of DXB and other ME airports in the last 10 years.

Check CO search engine. I was easily able to redeem F award (75k pp each way) from IAH to Islamabad. You need to get to BKK and then ISB. Getting to BKK can be through Europe (I am doing IAH-FRA-LHR-BKK-ISB in early Nov '11 - still trying to get the direct flight from FRA to BKK but no luck yet).

You will be looking at LH, UA, CO, LX etc. to get into Europe and then most probably TG to BKK.You can even try ANA, CO , OZ, UA to get a routing to BKK over the Pacific. There are options to do that and I am doing ISB-BKK-NRT-LAX-IAH on the way back. Note that this option would not have been available on UA but CO is much more flexible in the number of miles traveled and routing one way over the Atlantic and back over the Pacific as a R/T Award and not RTW.

I have booked the same itenary for my family from DFW in march this year on one world by calling in DFW-LHR-BAH-KHI without any hassle( i was about a week flexible).And i have already booked on star alliance in business for next summer DFW-LAX-BKK-KHI. Yes layover in BKK is 7 hrs but i think i can live with it if i am travelling in business.

That first itinerary is with AA miles? And BAH-KHI would be on Gulf? If so, you're the first person (admittedly in my very limited experience) who reported redeeming on Gulf.

That's good, I guess, although I will still try for Etihad.

I don't mind going to BKK if I'm traveling by myself, but with the family (2 small kids) I think it would make the journey too long.

And surprisingly it was only 1 month in advance i guess it was the time when the political situation in the GULF region was starting to deteriorate and they just wanted some activity.
As far as Etihad yes i would prefer that too but right now thats not an option.
With BKK option, i am traveling with 5 YR old too but traveling in business makes it lil bit easier with all the perks you get, but yes thats the only part i am worried about but thats the only feasible option at this time for us and plus we are quite familiar with the city so we don't mind going for a nice thai lunch and come back.

And yes the first itenary was on AA miles, i tried to redeem on CX but no availabilty even for 2 months and then CSR presented me with that option otherwise i was ready to go to DXB on AA miles and then buy my ticket on Emirates from DXB as some of the other ppl have suggested in the earlier post.Try KHI rather then ISB i think you will get better results.

I'll iterate what others have said....

Getting to DXB/AUH/KWI/BAH is a good back up plan since from those hubs you should be able to find flights onward to Pakistan...

Let us know what you end up finding... I've read Etihad availability to AA members is pretty good....

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...ption-partner/

^^^ Awesome news

I assume you want to go to BKK, and not just going there to get to ISB on the ticket? It's a great fare for 75k pp, but a looooong way to go just to make the routing work! (though it is in F)

I doubt anyone cares or even remembers, but I thought I'd report back for posterity's sake. (http://xkcd.com/979/)

I was able to use CO miles to book 3 of us (not including the baby) on TK: BOS-YYZ-IST-ISB (first leg on AC). Using continental.com, the booking process was very easy, but they screwed up on the infant ticket so I had to call in anyway. The infant ticket was much more expensive than I thought it should be, but I'm still pretty satisfied overall.

For the return, I adjusted my plans a little and am now stopping in Saudi for a couple days. I used AA miles to book myself JED-AUH-ORD-BOS on Etihad (last leg on AA) in J. I went with business class mainly for the experience, hopefully I don't get spoiled. Booking the ticket on the phone was easy, but I did some thorough research before hand. Had to pay the phone booking fee even though there is no other way to book. I'm pretty excited for this flight, even though it's longer than necessary.

I've got YYZ-JFK-AUH-KHI//AUH-JFK-YYZ booked in First on Etihad for 3+infant. That infant fare was kinda crazy.

Funny though that we have to "sidetrack" opposite ways to get the flights we need.