Kathmandu from Japan

Maverick17

Level 2 Member
I'm flying SIN-NGO on the back half of an Aeroplan award I booked before their devaluation. I'm wanting to go from there to KTM in October on a one-way trip.

Oneworld seems the best option, with pre-devaluation AA miles being only 30k for J compared to 22.5 for Y, and around 30-35 in Y on the other major programs. However only Malaysian, Cathay Dragon, and Qatar fly to KTM in Oneworld. I've flown MH J in their 737, and it's not bad at all, but I really would like to fly a widebody and be able to try something new.

I'm pretty comfortable being able to look up seats and such, but have a couple questions for the masses.

1. Qatar seems like a nicer/funner option personally, but would likely be over the MPM of 125%. Is the MPM flagged by the computer and will likely not work at all, or can I HUCA and hope for a nice agent?

2. If QR is not an option, rather than take MH or CX/Dragon, I was thinking about trying Sri Lankan and adding a new airline/airport to my collection, and flying NRT-CMB-DEL and just buying a revenue for about $100 up to KTM. I know they have a similar or the same seat as CX on their J product on a few planes, any way to know if the NRT flight gets that product?

3. Any comments on Dragon Air, and their J product? I've done CX J and Y many times, but not Dragon. If I go this route, I might just go Y, but the low premium it still probably makes sense to do J.

4. I haven't explored much on the lessor known miles programs to look for a sweet spot, but I have enough MR and UR I could probably do a transfer to a program if anything like that makes sense. I would appreciate any comments or recommendations.

Thanks in advance.
 

Cytraveler

Level 2 Member
Well, ironically, I am about to ask questions/help for flying to Kathmandu myself, from the U.S. though.

Have you looked at using Etihad? I believe AA can be used to fly Etihad. I don't think Etihad will fly to KTM from NGO, but you could perhaps fly to DEL as you mention in #2 and fly to KTM from there. I'm afraid I can't give advice on your other questions; good luck! And enjoy Kathmandu (if you need advice about the city/country/places to stay off the beaten path, I can perhaps help there).
 
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