Hi. I just wanted to share my experience booking my first Oneworld award J ticket. After reading through this thread and searching online, I finally bit the bullet and booked the first half of our trip online.
I phoned Qantas, to add the flights home from Europe, and after an hour was speaking to the customer service rep. The lovely CSR found seats on more convenient flights and booked these for us. All sweet.
Two days ago, I receive a text from QF stating that my departing flight from Aus, MEL to HKG via BNE, had changed and to contact them. They wanted to book us onto an earlier flight from MEL but I asked if there was a direct flight available, MEL/HKG, which she was happy to book us on. All sweet again.
When I checked my itinerary the next morning, the QR flights from FRA to NRT via DOH had disappeared! Panic sets in. I check online for availability on these flights and nothing is showing. I phone QF and after an hour wait, I am connected to Jessica who finds availability once again and books, although we are spread out in the cabin.
After searching online and possibly recall in actually reading it in this thread but forgotten, that others have had the same experience when altering their itinerary when having QR flights. Fortunately and surprisingly for me it worked out but others have not been as lucky.
So please if you have QR flights in your itinerary and change or add flights to it, check with the CSR then and there that the QR flights remain and don't vanish without any warning.
Thank you to all who have contributed to this thread. It has been a wealth of information and made a daunting task somewhat less so.