Originally Posted by
findark
In re (1), I'm not super familiar with RTW fare construction, but I thought the whole ticket was covered by one (RTW) fare, and I don't see that it would not allow QF sectors intra-Australia. I don't think the MEL-SYD-IAH option would include an embedded surface sector.
I'd expect that a Star Alliance RTW fare would only be bookable onto Star Alliance flights. I admit that I'm making an assumption there.
So, the embedded surface sector would be MEL-SYD, which would then be covered by a separately-fared (but jointly ticketed) one-way QF fare. You know how sometimes, when you put together a complicated itinerary into the ITA Matrix, it'll combine the legs in a non-obvious manner for faring? That's what I'd expect here.