Advice needed - complex trip
 

planning for next summer trip from ord, to nrt, hkg, bom.

i have following 2 options, which one should i select.

option 1:
delta - 210k miles for 3 tickets
ord->nrt
nrt->hkg
hkg->ord

cx - 100K AA miles for 2 tickets and 1 ticket on cash
hkg<->bom

option 2:
delta - approx 360k miles for 3 tickets
ord->nrt
nrt->hkg
bom ->ord

cx - 1 way - 2 tickets at approx 45K AA miles and 1 ticket on cash
hkg->bom

i have 290K skymiles, can accumulate 100-150K miles through fidelity cash transfer either delta or aa skymiles based on the option i select.

what option should i select?
option 2 is more simpler, i get directly home from bom instead of making stop at hkg, but it requires 400K miles, while option 1 has more stops but requires less miles that i need to collect.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Do you have any AAdvantage miles currently? You could get the whole trip for only 100K AA miles per person on a distance-based "Explorer" award, and even add a stop or two in Europe, if desired.

dont have any AAdvantage miles, so its difficult to get 300K miles. so thats why I wanted to use the SkyMiles and only collect/use AA miles for hkg->bom leg.

if i am going to use AA miles for HKG->BOM, then maybe should i do the following route

HKG->SIN
SIN->BOM
BOM->HKG

I am suspecting that the mileage requirements will be same, and it will allow me to cover 1 more destination?

any input?

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

AA's one-way awards do not permit stopovers, except at the North American gateway. So unless you were merely connecting at SIN, HKG-SIN-BOM would require two separate awards.

how many miles are needed for the roundtrip, if i go with my option 1, so the roundtrip is:

hkg->sin->bom->hkg

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

You would have to consult AA's Partner award chart and add the cost of each of the three one-way awards:

Asia 2-Asia 2
Asia 2-India
India-Asia 2