Ahh all worked out in the end. I ended up calling QF from an Australian number during business hours so got through to an Australian call centre. They priced it in AUD which ended up being the price I was expecting rather than AUD1000 more!
Originally Posted by
anabolism
Perhaps ask AA to price it (using AA codes if they insist), then book using either the online tool or AA. Once ticketed, ask QF (or JL) to change codes, which should be a free change.
This is what I did before trying QF again. AA kicked up a massive fuss about not using AA codes. (Oddly, they wouldn't allow me to book an AA coded CX flight because I wasn't connecting to the US but rather to LGW.) A number of other problems I had with AA include: (1) they couldn't seem to find availability on a number of CX flights, which (according to EF) had no availability with US as the POS but was wide open with any other POS; (2) they had to send it away to be priced, whereas QF did it in 15 minutes over the phone; and (3) they would tell me that there was no availability for AAA–xBBB–CCC when it is wide open AAA–BBB–CCC (if that makes sense — I've had a few glasses of wine).
I guess the lesson for me is to call QF when I will get through to an Australian call centre. Once I did get through, it was actually the most painless booking experience for a xONEx I've had! I got no lip or annoyance about codeshares or anything. In fact, the agent was over the moon that I actually had my entire itinerary already planned! And she was profusely apologetic for putting me on hold for 10–15 mins whilst she had the ticket priced and then rechecked!