I'm planning on touring a couple places in Asia in Decemeber. The possibilities are Shanghai, Beijing, Laos, HKG, and BKK. I was looking at just booking a RT LAX-HKG(connecting in NRT), and then figure out if the Visit Asia pass from OW would be worth it. But for that much(or less?) money, couldn't I just get a OW Explorer product that would allow me to go from LAX to a few cities in Asia? Right now I'm looking about $1K, and if I am paying that much I want to get miles (possible EXP). What would people recommend?

It's not mileage-earning, but Cathay has an All Asia Pass that can be a great deal if you need to visit lots of cities in the area...

Link

Yeah, I've seen that advertised on the website. As you said, the T&C's state no miles. I'm going to fly at least 75K BIS miles without this trip, so I'd really like to get miles and get to EXP.

OW Explorer is a RTW product and costs a lot more than US$1K.

Why do you want to connect in NRT? What's wrong with LAX-HKG direct on CX since Japan isn't on your list of places to visit.

I don't really want to connect in NRT, but its about $300-400 cheaper to do so then to take the nonstop on CX. I also spoke to the OW desk at AA, which told me the Visit Asia pass might be my best bet.

But, first, you need to count out Laos. Then you need to limit your airlines to those actually in Oneworld which means no JAL, Eva, Dragonair, China Eastern, etc. Third, you need to scratch off Laos and Shanghai from any pass or whatnot that you are considering. No Oneworld airline services Laos and only Finnair and British Airways serve Shanghai.

This seems like an impossible journey for a grand, to be quite honest. Lets assume that you arrange your own transport from Beijing to Shanghai and then to Hong Kong. you would need five segments.

1. NRT-HKG
2. HKG-PEK
3. HKG-BKK
4. BKK-HKG
5. HKG-NRT

Just the Visit Asia pass alone would be $1070 plus taxes (which can be pricy in Asia) not even including your trip to and from Tokyo. So youre realistically looking at closer to $1900-2000.

If you have the miles, I suggest you use them. Do a round trip from the US to Beijing via Tokyo with a stop in Hong Kong on your way back. Tickets to Bangkok can be found for a reasonable price where you can also buy a ticket to Laos, and then you can either go to Shanghai from Beijing or Hong Kong via the train. Using miles, that would probably be about a $1000 or so. Maybe a little less depending on how you get to Shanghai and whether you take LCCs or legacy carriers.

Also talk to one of the big, RTW consolidation companies. What's it called? Traveltreks or something. Whatever, a yahoo search will find them. Probably no miles, though.

Otherwise, do the Cathay pass and chalk it up as a non-mileage trip.

Actually, it doesn't even look like PEK is available on the All Asia Pass. Shanghai is on Dragonair but is an addl $400. So if youre a cyber traveler and leave outside summer then the pass would be $1499 plus tax and you would have to arrange your own transport from Shanghai to Beijing and back and then to Laos from Bangkok. Probably be about $1900-2000 total.

I've looked into a bit more, and decided to streamline it. I'm planning on going LAX-NRT-HKG; BKK-HKG-LAX. That way there is AA codeshares so I can earn the miles toward EXP. It looks to be $1330, but China Airlines has it for $860. I have $500 in GC's on AA, so it does equal out. And while I could take a second trip with the GC's, I can't imagine I'd pick up the 14,553 miles with $500. At best I'd be looking at an LAX-LHR run, but I don't really have the time to. What say you?