Hi. I am trying to get back from Sydney to London in business and I am thinking of using Avios. I have plenty as I find them so difficult to spend! The dates I am looking at are very busy and the best option I can see is SYD (QF) MEL (JAL) NRT (AY) HEL (AY) LHR. I've checked with AAdvantage and the taxes for that journey would be A$140.47 (say £80). I haven't yet checked with BA, but if I split the journey into two, online I get £169 in taxes and surcharges for SYD - MEL - NRT and £129 for NRT - HEL - LHR, so just under £300 per person or nearly four times as much. I assume that wouldn't be far adrift of the cost of the combined flight (am I wrong?). For now, I am not so worried about the Avios required as I would probably turn this into a multi-partner award (and so add more flights).
I was under the impression that BA charged huge surcharges for its own, AA and Iberia flights but lesser sums on other carriers. Seems I was wrong. Can anyone help with guidance as to which partners BA charge don't charge surcharges on, charge modest surcharges and charge high surcharges - or point me to where I might find this information. Thanks.