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]

Ack, I forgot to answer Impala's other questions.

1) As it stands now, the longest leg of the trip - and, incidently, most expensive - is the trip from Bangkok to Houston. I would depart Bangkok at 10:45 p.m. on June 13 and wouldn't get into Houston until 5:32 p.m. on June 14; the total amount of "plane time" comes up to be about 22 hours. The longest individual flight of the trip takes place in this leg as well, the flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles would clock in at a shade under 10 hours long.

2) I will be flying economy class throughout the entire trip and riding second-class on all trains.

Hartmann's questions up next...

1) I'll fly Continental to New York, Air India(??) to London, Turkish Air to Istanbul, Gulf Air to Bangkok, Korean Air to Los Angeles and Delta to Houston.

2) I did not pick an alliance because it was way too expensive to justify. Actually, in just looking at airfare, the cost for going with StarAlliance and OneWorld is nearly twice of what I'll probably end up spending.

3) I thought about Hong Kong when I first began thinking of taking a trip like this, but I opted for Bangkok for a couple of reasons. First, my father spent time in both cities back in the day and he said that Hong Kong sucked compared to Bangkok. Secondly, it seems as if staying in Hong Kong (lodging, food, etc.) is a LOT more expensive than Bangkok. I've never thought about going to Guam, is it pretty cool?