Sorry to be confusing, I'll try again.

My wife and I live in Louisville and today I booked ORD > CDG on BA using award miles. The partner airlines search did not (and does not) show any availability, but the BA-only search showed the dates I wanted (4/28/12 - 5/4/12). I booked my flight and I am happy with it, but now I am wondering if I could have worked in a flight from SDF > ORD and then back ORD > SDF on the return to make the whole trip easier and cheaper.

My main FF experience is with AA and they have usually made it very easy to book international award flights from any airport I have needed to travel from. It seems like BA is not as flexible, so I just went with the Chicago airport they offered on the BA award search engine.

Is the partner airline search the only other way to check availability for none BA hub airport departures? I know BA is an AA partner, but the partner search for my SDF > CDG flight had absolutely no availability for any dates whereas the BA only search had a ton for ORD > CDG.

Any tips? If I call BA will they find more flexible flights? Thanks!