Originally Posted by
ernestnywang
I was able to get a very close quote. To answer the most important part of your question, the main chunk of carrier surcharge is from QF, which adds 1145EUR each on HND-SYD and SYD-LAX.
I am a bit confused whether BA or AY was used for plating. Thought it would be AY. Anyway, there is no difference between YR/YQ whether BA or AY plate is used.
The easiest way to reduce YR/YQ would be to change HND-SYD to JL (note, seems no D available on the same day) and SYD-LAX to AA (or use the AS code-share with QF or AA).
I only see a very small difference on YR/YQ whether BOS-LHR is on AA-code or BA-code, or whether SYD-LAX is on AA-code or AS-code, when plated on BA or AY.
Your suggestion of trying to get TYO-SYD on JL is a solid win if the OP has any flexibility in the date and can find a date its available. Now that QF has a lot more Japan flights back online, it's not as hard to get JL as it was last year. Last year the entire business cabin was sold out (on any fare class, even J) months in advance sometimes. QF hands down has a better seat than JL, even though it's on the A330 and I don't care for that plane, but JL's service and generally food quality is much better. The other downside to JL is their (Hollywood) entertainment is nearly non-existent but I can tolerate that, easy to download some stuff to your own device if you're not planning to sleep.