Originally Posted by
BAYLIFE
Admittedly... no. But, it's AA out of not Sydney/Melbourne w/ a bigger Biz class cabin than Qantas (which uses a 28-seat A330-200 to LAX, which I'd expect to get more demand than DFW from BNE unless AA is gonna induce huge amounts of demand with this route from BNE. Which, typically isn't done by sky-high fares)
I'm guessing they may be testing the waters regarding demand. If you live in the middle or south of the country, the west coast connections to Australia require a lot of lead time, making DFW a much more attractive routing. (I paid a premium last year to fly STL-IAH-SYD in lieu of STL-SFO-SYD on UA, and it was worth every cent). From my research last year it seems a lot of people flying to Australia these days are willing to invest in a business ticket due to the length of the flight, even on leisure trips. SYD is a pain for intl - to - domestic transfers (I understand MEL is much better), and BNE is a prime tourist launching pad for exploring the Great Barrier Reef. So this route has a lot of "pull" factors going for it imho. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the fares drop too, but $1400 also does not seem "sky high" to me. The prospect of better routing already has me thinking about another trip sooner than I might have otherwise.
ETA: When I was at SYD last year waiting in the long line for an airside bus transfer from the international to domestic terminal, the Aussie behind me sighed loudly and said "this is what I get for not flying into Brisbane . . . "