cheapest way to do circle MEL > USA westcoast > Japan?

[aspro2]

My partner and I want to travel MEL-SFO-Japan(any city)-MEL or vv in Dec/Jan over 2-3 weeks. Flexible about intermediate stops, prefer not to backtrack much.

I'm acutely aware that prices are all over the place for that period depending on travel dates, so at the moment curious more about what people would expect to be the cheapest non-life-endangering solutions and then I'll toddle off and do more research. As far as I could see, Pacific circle fares would cost more much more than point-to-point fares for this itin...

I did research for a similar trip about 18 months ago and found a combo of VAustralia, SQ and Continental, plus domestic seemed cheapest (and the thought of changing in Guam seemed kinda amusing!).

 

[chrisb]

Have a look at the One World Circle Pacific. I'm not sure if it's the cheapest, but it's an option.

oneworld - Circle Pacific

 

[aspro2]

Thanks chrisb, but as mentioned, the pacific circle fares tend to be more expensive than point-to-point tickets for fairly simple itineraries.

 

[drmikki]

Why not see if you can fly a Japanese carrier and book a stopover?

With JAL you can go SYD-NRT-SFO... should be simple to get from MEL-SYD on an alternative carrier.

Not sure about prices.... but there are less holidays around Christmas (only Emperor's Birthday) so maybe there will be less seasonal variation?