Which Pass to use for Kansai?

I am travelling to Tokyo and intend to visit Kansai. I have the option of doing a transit at Kansai Airport from Narita on the way home, thus I don't have to travel by shinkansen between Tokyo and Kyoto. In Kansai I intend to travel between Kyoto (2-3 nights), Kinosaki (1 night), Oji (2 nights for visiting Nara and Osaka), with the return trip on the KEX Kansai Airport-Kyoto. Looking at 5-6 nights then. 1.Which pass should I buy? Still the JR 1 week pass?
2.I read that with the Kansai Area Pass there's only 4 days max. I will need more than 4 days of travel. If I buy from overseas can I buy 1x4 day pass and 1x2 day pass? I read that you can only buy 1 pass if you buy within Japan.
3.Or should I buy the Kansai Thru Pass? But this doesn't allow JR travel but it is good for Kyoto City travel.. Can it be used for travel between the airport and Kyoto? How much slower is it than KEX?
4.Or should I buy the Kansai Thru Pass to use in Kyoto (2-3 days stay) and then the Kansai Area Pass to go out of Kyoto to Kinosaki, Oji, nara and Osaka (3 nights)? Argh!!! It is so confusing!!! Help :"-(

First off, if by Kinosaki you mean Kinosaki Onsen, none of the passes are of any use, as it is not covered by them. With the exception of your visit to Kinosaki, everything else could be covered by the Kansai Thru Pass

You can use the Kansai Thru Pass to get from Kansai Airport to Kyoto, but it would take a number of changes of train and a minimum of 2 hours against the JR direct service that takes 75 minutes. Also, if you used the Rapit service, there would be a supplement to pay with the pass. If you were to get the JR Haruka from the airport to Kyoto, the one day Kansai Area Pass would save you money. 2000 Yen, against 2980 Yen with a regular unreserved ticket. A JR pass would be of little use for getting around Kyoto.

If I read your post correctly, it looks like you are planning to return to the airport from Kyoto. I would suggest that instead of doing a day trip to Osaka, I would spend the last night of your trip in Osaka in the Nanba area and catch the Rapit to the airport the next day. If you are leaving in the morning and not planning any travel around Osaka on that last day, just buy a regular ticket, don�ft use a day of the Kansai Thru Pass. There is a Toyoko Inn about 10 minutes walk from the station:

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/e_hotel/00054/index.html

Another possible idea is to go from the airport to Oji/Nara (1 night). Then to Kyoto (2-3), Kinosaki (1) via JR regular ticket (4200 Yen, unreserved seat) Then from Kinosaki to Osaka via Limited Express Kitakinki for 4940 Yen unreserved. Then get a subway pass for traveling in Osaka (850 Yen: http://tinyurl.com/37ws23 )

With this plan you would need eiter 1x3 day or 2x2 day Kansai Thru Passes (plus 500 Yen supplement for Rapit from airport), less than 10,000 Yen for the trip to Kinosaki, a day subway ticket in Osaka and the Rapit to the airport on the last day (1390 Yen).