This was originally started on 2016-02-18. It is a post that talks about air travel – regional airfare – for my 2017 trip to Asia. It is a work in progress until I actually have all the flights booked.
Traveler’s Century Club (TCC) List: This is a list of countries for research.
USA to Asia: First, let’s talk about getting in. I’ll be using air miles. The link for the material I need for AA air miles is here. This gives the overall picture of the AA rewards. The flight out needs to be booked before March 22 as the awards change on that date for some of the Asian flights. MileSAAver Off Peak goes up 7,500 miles and MileSAAver goes up 2,500 for Asia Region 1 which is Seoul and Tokyo. The Off Peak period is January 1 – April 30 for my needs. There are more details not significant to my needs. I can save 15,000 miles if I book both in and out flights before March 22, 2016. This is almost 50% or a flight to Europe or Asia. It looks to be worth it. This must be booked into or out of Asia Region 1 (Seoul or Tokyo). The key issue here is the cost of getting into and out of those cities once I’m in Asia. Asia Region 2 (Hong Kong or China). In the end I found that I needed to book flights based on a minimum amount of air miles. I would up booking Oklahoma City to Auckland, NZ and Tokyo, JP.
Air Asia Sales  |  Air Asia Flight Map  |  Lion Air Flight Map 
Auckland to Gold Coast: Use Skyscanner to check for flights. Use Air Asia to check for flights.
Auckland to Sydney: Use Skyscanner to check for flights.
Christchurch to Sydney:Use Skyscanner to check for flights. Use Air Asia to check for flights.
Christchurch to Gold Coast: Use Skyscanner to check for flights. Use Air Asia to check for flights.
Seoul to Tokyo: Use the Skyscanner link to check the flights. Use Air Asia to check the flights.

Use Skyscanner to check for flights. Use Air Asia to check for flights.

Use Skyscanner to check for flights. Use Air Asia to check for flights.

Country = Papua New Guinea – Flightstats: Port Moresby, PG - while it’s another country, it’s going to cost $200-250 for the ticket and there are no inexpensive places to stay and not a lot to see unless I want to travel inland. No local buses and very few roads.

Country = Timor

It seems that the best way to see Sulawesi, Moluka and Papua (Irian Jaya) for the least possible price for air fare is to get to start in KL and go to Makassar then go from Makassar to Ambon (Garuda Air – $130 round trip) and then to Sorong ($64 round-trip on Lion Air) and then reverse the direction. Lion Air flies from Ambon, Moluka to Kaimana, Papua (Irian Jaya) for $250 round trip. It files from Ambon to Sorong,  Papua (Irian Jaya) for $32 one-way and $64 round-trip. Garuda Air has flights from Jayaoura, Papua (Irian Jaya) to Makassar, Sulawesi for $125 one-way. Air Asia files from KUL to Makassar, Sulawesi for $63 to $80. Lion Air has flights from Ambon, Moluka to Fak Fak, Papua (Irian Jaya) for $103 one-way.