Late August travel. Need to fly from LAX to Singapore, then going overland to through Malaysia and need flight from Penang to LAX. Since we are then flying on to Phoenix, the late arrival at LAX is causing a stay in LA overnight. Flight costs on Cathay Pacific including the Phx portion are nearly $1500. China Air to LAX, not including Phoenix and requiring a night in an LAX airport hotel, are $1300. Yeesh. HELP!

have you looked at malay air and also cathy pacific, using their asia pass??

remember to book with plenty of time if you are changing airlines in usa as they will not usually support one another if the flights are booked seperately....

since we are only doing one flight internally (penang to KL or Penang to Singapore - both one way), I didn't think the airpass made sense. The rest of the trip is KL to LAX or Singapore to LAX, round trip.

some times these air pass flights are worth it just to get the base fare....

Guess I'm not understanding - Is the $1500 round trip or one way?

And the $1300 is that Penang to LAX to Phoenix?

I'm no use on the long hauls ex LAX, but seems to be you need a simple LAX-SIN return and then simply a PEN-SIN one way ( MH or SQ ). Or if on a budget PEN-JHB ( Johor Bharu ) on Air Asia and then bus to Changi(SIN)
I agree that you may find getting a ticket LAX-PEN return via SIN not 'too much' difference and not use the SIN-PEN portion ( though do ensure once on the way the airline knows you are not using that portion so they don't cancel other sectors ).

Is SIN part of the trip?

China Airlines do a TPE-PEN non stop and I think Cathay do HKG-PEN ( do check though as flights change a lot )