Originally Posted by
mikelat
Added emphasis here. Finding a Biz or First award on Qantas with AA mile is extremely difficult. You will not only have to book very early, you will also need to be flexible on your dates. Actually, if you have enough miles, you may have better luck going USA-Hong Kong-Sydney. It costs more miles, but is a bit easiesr tha USA-Australia.
Agree. I have spent the past month trying to put together a trip on Qantas, JFK-SYD. Fortunately I eventually got first there (on the 388 to boot) and biz back (via Auckland) - but finding this was a slow and exhausting process. I got the feeling half the reps I spoke with didn't even look. There were some first options in Cathay to Hong Kong but only coach from HKG to SYD. That was also something like 110k miles each way versus 72.5. But Cathay might be worth it...
Good luck. Check early and often.