Originally Posted by ThanxsisC

Hi, I was hoping to get some feedback/advice on how to go about booking oneworld flights using AA miles for my upcoming honeymoon. After reviewing the first post, my ideal itinerary is:

NYC-NRT-TPE (via Japan Airlines)
TPE-HKG-SYD (via Cathay Pacific)
SYD-NAN (via Qantas although its codeshare Air Pacific)
NAN-LAX-NYC (via American Airlines, although a leg is codeshare Air Pacific)

If NAN doesn't work because of the ineligible codeshare leg, I likely will just go to AKL instead of NAN which I can get to via Qantas. With that being said, here are my questions:

1. After checking on circle map, the trip is 23,122 miles (AKL route is 23,483 miles) so are the award miles for biz class needed 150K AA miles and there are no necessary increases in miles (i.e. saver vs standard award)?
2. I'm looking to book a 12/15/2012 - 1/1/2013 trip. When is the earliest I can start calling in to make the award reservation? As I tried it online, the last dates available to make reservations were 11/26/2012. I know people have said 330 days but is that 330 days from first flight or 330 days from last flight.
3. Is it difficult to book a 2 person trip in biz class using the oneworld award chart if miles are coming from 2 different accounts (understanding that each person's account has to cover its own awards fare)?
4. What can I expect in regards to surcharges for this type of itinerary?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!