Random travel question Options

[Aaron]

I figured this question probably wasn't related enough to airline fellatio to warrant posting in that other thread.

I'm planning a post-graduation around-the-world trip for May/June; I plan on stopping in Sydney, Bangkok and various stops in Western Europe. The best price that I can find for an eastbound trip - that is, USA -> Sydney -> Bangkok -> European stops -> USA - is about three grand including a rail pass, taxes and fees. Right now, I can price a westbound trip for about $2,500, but nearly a quarter of that (~$700) is going to the flight from Sydney to Los Angeles.

My question is this, do you guys know of any common or routine routes from Asia to the United States? I'm assuming that the cheapest will be heading to LAX, but I just can't find a cheap (~$500) flight from anywhere in Asia. I've tried pricing flights out of Singapore, Hong Kong, Tapei, Seoul and Bangkok through all of the major travel websites (Expedia, Orbitz, etc.).

Any ideas?

(Trying to get a flight that departs for the United States on June 12 or 13.)

[Aaron]

Okay, so the flight that I was eyeing from Sydney to Los Angeles just jumped up in price $200, making it around $900. Fuck that.

I've changed my itinerary around, swapping Sydney for Istanbul. It's just too much of a pain in the ass to find a reasonably priced flight out of Australia to the United States.

So: US -> London -> Paris, Bern, Interlaken, Zurich, Munich -> Istanbul -> Bangkok

Not only is this about $100 cheaper than my previous itinerary (even without the $200 price increase factored in), but it will also allow for stopovers in Bahrain, Seoul and Tokyo.

Thoughts on Istanbul?