Gotcha. Thanks.

The BA site shows me the business class ticket I want on Iberia as "2 available" for 10 May 2018, but the nice man on the phone from American says he cannot book a ticket that far in advance. Thoughts? Should I be concerned that the fact there are only 2 available today means I could be out of like in 16 days when I can book this via AA?

Does Iberia ever open more J award space at later dates if none is currently showing?

AA has a restriction in that it only permits booking 330 days in advance ; airlines such as BA and QF allow bookings up to 355 days in advance. If there are 2 available now , then they may be gone depending on what bookings IB receive in next 2 weeks.

Is there availability on days around that or is this just a single day with availability? also , if you look at dates 2 weeks earlier, how is availability - those may give you an idea of how likely the seats are to go

Thank you! On one hand, it looks like there is availability a lot of days in April...on the other hand mid May is probably a bit more desirable.

Connecting at LHR triggers YQ
 

I guess this is well know but it still sucks.

waw-lhr $13.7 taxes/fees. No YQ.
but if you book
waw-lhr-ord, AA metal on the 2nd leg, it then triggers a $40 ba YQ. the connection at LHR triggers the YQ.

You will avoid the APD of GBP75/GBP150 though , so will come out better than booking separately

Thanks!

its 3 saver J on AA metal 240x3

I don't believe the $40 charge is YQ. I see it stated as the LHR passenger service charge. Enjoy a privately operated airport! Public-private partnership!

From aa.com:

Adult fare, taxes and carrier-imposed fees

Base fare $0.00 USD
Per person
CARRIER-IMPOSED FEES $32.00 USD
AIRPORT TAX (POLAND) $16.00 USD
PASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE (POLAND) $0.10 USD
PASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE (UNITED KINGDOM) $40.10 USD
TRANSPORTATION TAX (UNITED STATES) $18.00 USD
US APHIS USER FEE (UNITED STATES) $3.96 USD
US FEDERAL INSPECTION FEE (UNITED STATES) $7.00 USD
US CUSTOMS USER FEE (UNITED STATES) $5.50 USD
Total Adult taxes and carrier-imposed fees $122.66 USD
Per person

Unless recently changed, AA definitely did impose YQ for european sectors on BA for a transatlantic journey even though BA would not charge YQ for a standalone booking; is that a breakdown for an award journey?

Passenger service charge would apply even for a standalone LHR-ORD

Checking for a business class award WAW-ORD via LHR using BA-AA, the breakdown shows

Taxes $90.66
Carrier-Imposed Fees $40.00

with the taxes broken down as


AIRPORT TAX (POLAND) $16.00 USD
PASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE (POLAND) $0.10 USD
PASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE (UNITED KINGDOM) $40.10 USD
TRANSPORTATION TAX (UNITED STATES) $18.00 USD
US APHIS USER FEE (UNITED STATES) $3.96 USD
US FEDERAL INSPECTION FEE (UNITED STATES) $7.00 USD
US CUSTOMS USER FEE (UNITED STATES) $5.50 USD

and

CARRIER-IMPOSED FEES $40.00 USD

In your breakdown it even showed CARRIER-IMPOSED FEES $32.00 USD - which is what AA applies in economy class

YQ on a connection only. BA does it because they can.

Confirmed with the rate desk, the YQ is triggered by the connection.

Got tagged for $131 on a one way business class from MAD to ORD on Iberia.

On the upside, I was shocked to be able to accomplish this transaction quickly on AA.com...and I had forgotten about getting 10% back instantly, so that was a nice little bonus. :)

Had my first experience with Level (the new IAG LCC). Was able to put an economy award on hold, 30k miles for BCN-OAK with $60 taxes plus $67 in carrier imposed fees. I have an anytime award on AA metal (788 w eco+ seats) for 60k miles with only $46 in taxes. Also have DUS-JFK/EWR-SEA in biz on hold, at 57.5k miles it seems like the best deal on miles, but it has $90 in taxes and necessitates a JFK-EWR xfer and an overnight in EWR.
Can't be too choosy on last minute summer travel!

It looks like the carrier imposed fees on that are just $67. That compares to $184 on BA-metal LHR-ORD.

Oh I know, the out of pocket is pretty much a third of what I would have to pay on BA...and not having to connect through LHR is priceless.