Hi Gang,

I need to go to SYD next month, with a stop in SIN on the way back. All of my miles and status are on NW.

From all the great FT advice, it looks like the only way for me to get there from SEA and still earn miles is to hop an AS flight to LAX, then take MH to SYD via KUL, then back to KUL again on the way to SIN before going back to KUL on the way to LAX before heading home to SEA.

Jeez.

Here's why I'm thinking this isn't the thing to do:

• two eight-hour layovers in KL
• no upgrades with WP miles: I have to buy a J/C ticket or ride in the back
• still have to fly SEA-LAX and back
• don't know much about MH business class - is it as nice as WBC?
• MH has a very painful pricing and booking process involving submitted itineraries, emails, and phone calls within 48 hours.
• WP line is unable to help with this at all. They told me they can't book it and gave me the MH 800 number.
• this doesn't qualify for the MM promotion - nothing does, but it isn't a positive.

Considering that I'm not willing to ride in coach, and my client won't pay for business, what would other FTers suggest (aside from ponying up the difference)? I've considered booking a flight on UA and buying one of the envelopes on eBay that contains a SWU. I also thought about getting another PR consolidator ticket in C, which would come in around $2400 r/t from SFO, but involves WAY too much time in the MNL airport, and is really closer to domestic F on NW.

Here's the schedule I'm trying to keep:

9-Nov SEA-SYD
16-Nov SYD-SIN
19-Nov SIN-SEA

I'm willing to depart from somewhere besides SEA; SFO/LAX and maybe YVR would be OK.

It also occurs to me that this one trip would probably be enough to complete a plat challenge on AA (though I hate to fly them because they just furloughed my little brother, but that's another post...).

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

-alan in seattle

well... there are two other ways to do this routing, both are equally painful.

I sent my girlfriend EAST to Sydney (you can go via Amsterdam or Newark/Dubai to KL) and this way you can actually avoid doing overnights in Kuala Lumpur for both directions.

You can also fly from SEA to Tokyo, and then MH from Tokyo to KL and onward to Sydney. This latter routing would require the overnighters.

I have no idea why Northwest doesn't fly direct to Sydney from HNL or LAX. They supposedly made lots of money per plane (both in cargo and in PAX). Certainly with the stranglehold QF, UA and NZ have on this market, it's pretty tough to find a fare for under $1000. "Low Yields" a complaint? C'mon, they only set aside a maximum of 10% of the seats for WorldPerks reservations. If NWA flew to this destination again, they would HAVE to make money. Why they don't, I have no clue.

I do not know how much money you are looking at spending so I will propose this which would be nice in Biz, but not sure in steerage. (FYI- MH C/J is excellent). The seats are not as nice as WBC but the entertainment and food are in a world by themselves.

SEA-NRT (NW)
NRT-KUL (MH)
KUL-SYD (MH or Qantas)
SYD-KUL (MH)
KUL-SIN (MH)
SIN-NRT (NW)
NRT-SEA (NW)

also, it is fairly easy to book award seats on MH in biz and first if you are looking at doing that.

another repeat of above poster -- MH in FC or BC is FINE. The layover in KUL on the way back can be overnight -- there's a good, inexpensive (everything in Malaysia is) Pan Pacific Hotel attached to KLIA. The eight hours on the way -- go into the city, it's worth the effort. They now have a direct highspeed rail connection (35 minutes).

Why not buy a nw tix sea-sin in "C" and then get an wp award on MH sin-syd. Should price out similar as the "Y" tix your client is willing to pay and although you are out some miles you get the benefit of all the travel in "C"
Not sure about how the schedules work out in terms of layovers and such.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I was hoping someone would say something like, "Didn't you know that NZ is now a WP partner and they have R/T SEA-SYD for $1400 in C?" but I guess that was too much

I like magic111's (and others) idea about booking NW to SIN or NRT and then taking something else from there. I really don't want to do award tix, because I want the miles. SEA-SIN would still let me hit Plat by year end, and then I could burn the miles to SYD on MH. Hmm.

This has given me something to think about. Any other ideas?

-alan in seattle

Well, this is getting closer and I still don't have it ticketed yet. I finally got the trip OK'ed by my client today and sent the following to my TA. She's good at doing what I suggest, but not very creative. Does anyone else have a suggestion to add?

-alan in seattle