Hello QF Folks!

I thought I'd ask the regulars on this board - as my question surrounds inventory availability and routing options from DFW to MEL on the Qantas flights.

Just found out I'll be leading a team down under (Melbourne) starting in early July.

The good news - the company will foot Business class for the flights - and so I began to pull together some plausible itineraries for my travel department to book.

My routing will be from DFW>MEL - with desired dates 7-10 July on the outbound - and 13-17 Sep on the return for the first of many trips over 18 months.

I first tried booking on aa.com - and found no flights available DFW>LAX>MEL, the only ones that came up had me routing DFW>SFO>AUK>MEL - with MEL>LAX>DFW available on the return.

Checking Expert Flyer - I see that every day during the week of 7 July is zeroed out in all classes on the LAX>MEL QF flights. Zoinks!

Granted - I'm only booking out ~2 weeks from departure -- but is LAX>MEL that popular a route in their autumn/winter time period (I think I got that part of the season right :-) ).

So - unless I'm not using Expertflyer correctly - or the routing is truly sold out -- I was wondering if any frequent travelers had suggestions for creative routings in getting from DFW to MEL (i.e. perhaps a circle pacific fair?) - routing me DFW/LAX/HKG/MEL/LAX/DFW?

Pricing it out on our company website -- they have me going DFW/HOUSTON/LAX/AUK/MEL on Continental and Air New Zealand -- and our corp discounted rate is $15Kish, checking the routing on AA - it's $19K in business. Been a few years since I (rather, my company) paid for a business class trip down under -- and I was a bit sticker shocked -- I remember business fares being around $8 or $9K (I thinks).

So - this Texan would surely appreciate thoughts on routing options for those make this trip (or have made this trip) on a regular basis!

Take care --