Originally Posted by thejungle
So as long as I book on an AA flight # on a OW metal (usually AA/QF/BA I would think) I should get 100%!
If it's a codeshare say QF metal, are all the `L' class availability available to both flight numbers.
I know this is a bad analogy but say there's 100 `L' class seats, do 50 go to the QF # and 50 to the AA # or 70/30 or are the 100 available for whichever flight # gets them first.
No, each airline controls its own inventory and it is completely unrelated to the "other" flight. Think of codeshares as virtual airplanes. It is entirely possible for AA to decide to offer L0 on its codeshares, if it thinks the seats can be sold for a higher fare (historically AA has been pretty good at making L/D/A inventory available on most routes, including codeshares).
The AA/QF price difference is a bit misleading as AA has a much smaller fuel surcharge than QF; the total price after taxes and surcharges for AA LAX-SYD is typically USD 100 more than for QF on the same plane, rather than USD 400.