Booking an international Qantas leg with Avios…

[Arnerd]

Good day fellow HfP readers.
I’m looking to book the following itinerary: LHR-SFO-SYD-LHR in September/October 2025.
I was looking to book each leg individually to catch Avios flights when they are released.
For the BA metal flights, I am familiar and happy to book 355 days out.
But for the SFO-SYD direct Qantas flight, it seems very random when and how reward flights are released on the BA booking system. I am also happy to book reward flights via Iberia but they are equally confusing about which Qantas flights show up and when. I figure the irregular release is down to Qantas but maybe there is a pattern.
Probably nothing that can be done with Avios this far in advance but I thought I would ask if anyone has any ideas – other than be checking the Rewards pages every day until it shoes up (if at all).
Thank you as always.

[1958]

Unfortunately, I have found QF Avios availability to be sparse – and often only available “at short notice” (ie a couple of weeks before the flight). Also, I suggest that you be flexible regarding SFO or LAX – ie if LAX comes up, jump on it.
Not very helpful – but it may help you to plan.

[Gagravarr]

Qantas don’t release many seats for redemptions on their international flights, and there’s a lot of competition from Australians for them

Earlier this year, due to customer pressure, Qantas added more redemption seats at a higher price. No help for you – those aren’t available with Avios, but gives an idea of how tight availability is

You probably need to check all the US + Canada gateway cities that Qantas fly to for availability. That means also checking Dallas, Honolulu, and Vancouver, as well as the more obvious LAX / SFO

[Arnerd]

Thanks! It does look like LAX has more direct flights including both QF an AA operated flights so I will see if that opens up more redemption options – at least to hold as a backup while I wait to see of the direct SFO route opens up. I wish SeatSpy added non-BA operated Avios availability to their system. Checking multiple cities repeatedly without knowing when any of them are coming online is a nightmare…

[NorthernLass]

SeatSpy does show AA (and EI) availability (though AA pricing is different from on BA.com, FYI), so you could track connections e.g. Hawaii and Canada which would be bookable with avios.