Originally Posted by ijgordon

https://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do...#upgradeAwards

Everything but full fare economy has the $350 copay. From that same page, "Unless otherwise noted, a full-fare ticket is one that is booked in Y or B and is unrestricted, can be changed or canceled at no additional charge, has no advance purchase requirements, and is fully refundable."


Also, I think the closest you can get to SYD on AA metal is NRT, though such a routing is out of the way and probably expensive. A better option (mentioned very recently in another thread) is AA to HNL and then Jetstar to SYD which reportedly has a reasonably-priced business class cabin. However, I don't think you earn AA miles on Jetstar.