Thanks all for the input. In my experience, specifically named taxes/fees/surcharges on awards have always matched that of a cash ticket, with the only variance being whether a partner booking fee or similar is collected (and whether or not YQ is collected at all, i.e. BA does but AA does not).
As
dvs7310 mentions, BA charges a higher Avios amount for the same redemption - 9200 Avios more but 86USD less in fees in this case. Ultimately given the choice the Avios are worth more to me than that, but it is still something that should be more clearly laid out rather than being hidden away disguised as YQ. It certainly reduces the perceived savings in QR's partner award chart.
In the end, I called Qatar's main line and asked again. The agent priced out the same ticket and confirmed YQ should be 431HKD. Then after checking with ticketing, she came back with the following chart specific to
JAL and Cathay awards booked over the phone:
Distance in miles: Y/J
0-1000: 50/80USD
1001-2000: 60/140USD
2001-3000: 75/180USD
3001-4000: 90/200USD
4001+: 100/238USD
So, the amount of YQ the operating carrier collects is totally irrelevant and is instead wrapped up in this fee, which I guess comprises fuel surcharge, a telephone booking fee, and some sort of a partner booking fee.
After checking, a CX J award for the same segment on QR's website prices at the correct/expected amount. In the end, since it is not possible to book JL awards on QR's website there is no way to avoid this.
Originally Posted by
lifeonthego_k
I had the same inflated YQ for a redemption booking request for SIN-BKK (on CX metal). When I search blog posts by people who have made partner award bookings using QR Avois, none mention the inflated YQ. In the end I didn't go through with the booking as I decided to first weigh options from other OneWorld carriers who charge more miles for the same ticket but have lower YQ. On the QR partner award booking page, it does mention the below:
QR also says telephone bookings are charged 25USD but it still leaves 60USD unaccounted for
Like you, I could find no mention of this elsewhere, and I'm used to BA charging the highest surcharges so when I saw this I thought it must be a mistake. At least with CX you can book it directly on QR's website which avoids the issue.