Which Asian air pass?
 

I need to visit Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo-Narita, Shanghai, and potentially Singapore, KL, Sydney, and Auckland sometime in early June. I'll be flying from the DC area. Time is limited, so I'd like to avoid flying in and out of hubs if possible (which is an issue with air passes).

The last time I flew to Asia on business, I paid $2300 for DC-Seoul-Shanghai-Guangzhou-Bangkok-Sing-KL-Taipei-LAX-DC on Singapore Air and some other national carriers. By the time I paid supplements on an air pass, I might be up in that range, anyway.

I know that Cathay and Air Malaysia have good air passes. Any suggestions?

Cathay get's my vote.

What's the latest cost on these air passes?
 

What's the latest cost on these air passes?

It would be nice to know if any deals are out or about to come out.

Consider the Circle Pacific fare
 

I know OW has one (not sure about Star).

To get rules see here ->http://home.so-net.com.hk/~pns/CXRule/Circle.xls
or http://www.hardlink.com/~markdu/OWFiles/OneCirPac.html
and ask question on the OW forum.

To get prices see here -> http://www.hardlink.com/~markdu/OWFiles/OneCirPac.html (within the star file)

CX's pass is $999, but you need to add:

$300 for summer travel
$400 for Shanghai
$500 for Sydney
$500 for Auckland

And Beijing is only served 3 times a week.

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MH's pass is $1099, but you need to add:

$660 for Beijing
$660 for Shanghai

And it doens't include Seoul, Tokyo, Sydney or Auckland.

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I don't see how either can be a good deal for the OP.

here are my thoughts:

OPTION 1

1) fly to PEK via ICN and returning from SIN on KE or OZ ($700)
2) buy a ticket from PEK to SHA ($60)
3) use miles to fly SHA-NRT-SIN (20K-40K depending on carrier or class of service
4) buy a ticket from SIN to your preferred ports of call in australia/NZ ($500)

OPTION 2

same as above, but fly to PEK via NRT (on NH or NW) instead of ICN and use miles to do SHA-ICN-SIN. i'm guessing this option would cost you about $200 more than the first (because NH is more expensive than KE/OZ) and maybe a few more miles for the intra-asia award, but i would probably do it anyway because NH's IAD-NRT flight is a great time saver.

See if the SHA/PEK part can be open jawed and pick up a cheap domestic flight in china.

How about ANA?
 

Great ideas, Moondog. Last time I tried to fly PEK-SHA with Chinese airlines, it was a mess. I had to pick up the ticket at the airport the day before the flight, and then call to confirm my reservation. Has that gotten any easier?!

Also, ANA has direct flights from DC to Tokyo, so that could save A LOT of time. Looks like I could fly for ~$1000 in June, and then take a Qantas flight from NRT to MEL for ~$700.