Hoping to get some advice from more experienced folks, sorry if this isn't the right place to ask.
I've been given the tricky task of helping plan out flight bookings for a family group of 8 or 9 (all in Y), starting from roughly mid to late Nov 2024 for an approx 3 week USA trip for a wedding in the extended family. Starting from either SYD or BNE, final destination BOS.
A bad transit experience about 15+ years ago at LAX (this was our first time flying to the USA I think) means none who experienced that hell wants to ever go through it again, so considering other transit options. Most of the group are budget-concious and aren't getting any younger either so they likely wouldn't want to spend more than 10 hrs non-stop.
So I'm thinking the best options for going 1 stop and skipping over LAX are looking like...
* via ICN on KE - probably the preferred option amongst the family currently due to being arguably the cheapest option. Overnight layover but also allows time to spend an evening in the city (none of us have been to South Korea before).
* via HKG on CX - my personal preference due to *O lock-in but also more expensive. HKG is a nice airport imo.
* via HND/NRT on JL - another option but annoying as also overnight layover (so will need to find accomodation) and also a likely airport change as JL8 flies out from NRT. AFAIK there isn't much to do around NRT.
Slightly annoyed at myself since something like this would probably be easier if I knew a good TA and I haven't done a booking for such a large group before.
Going around or under 2.2k AUD per person would be ideal, but I realise this is a tough ask considering the dates are close to peak travel periods.
Transitting through a different airport/airline on the return leg is something I've suggested but this would likely cause the costs to increase.
Again, apologies if this isn't the right place to post this, or if I should create this as its own thread.