USA <-> China using MR, ANA the best option?
I am planning my next trip and this time I plan to visit China. I have not actually chosen where in China yet, but as long as I get to mainland or even HK I can do the rest.
Earlier this year I flew to Japan with ANA first using MR and of course it was excellent. I was looking into options for China and came across ANA again, but I am a bit confused on the best option.
The best deal by far with ANA is USA to Shanghai/HK with a stop in Tokyo. In the off season this seems to be 57k each way business. 7k more than straight to Japan.
Unfortunately, unless I am mistaken, I think this will be nearly impossible to book. This is because the flight to China is always a day later than the initial flight, meaning I wouldn't be able to book until a day later than a flight straight to Japan.
My current plan with that in mind is just to get business to Tokyo and then pay out of pocket cash for an economy to China and then the same to return.
Before I started proceeding with this I thought I would ask here. I appreciate any input!