Very high award taxes & fuel surcharge... Correct or glitch?

YQ is there - you just have to dig it out of the base fare quoted. For an IB revenue business fare, SDQ-MAD-BIO r/t, there is a YQ of US$ 530.04 (US$ 265.02 each way). That is on top of the US$ 215.95 Dominican Departure Tax and other sundry taxes and fees

OK, I'll give them that one then, grudgingly, though neither AA nor IB charge it on an award ticket. But the $900 "tax" is ridiculous. And even in your example whatever source you used isn't quite accurate on the tax. Dominican Departure tax is $20, adding the various other fees it comes to the $128 that's being charged by IB and AA. There is, for flights originating in the DR, a 16% VAT, which comes to quite a bit more than $216, but not $900+. It would seem then that BA's system is pulling a full J fare as the basis for the fees on an award ticket and then including a YQ that the actual flying airline doesn't impose on an award ticket, and ridiculously adding a sales tax due on a $6,041 ticket on an actual sale of $0.00.

Here's their breakdown:
Government, authority and airport charges Per adult
Transportation Tax - Dominican Rep USD966.56 - ***THERE IS NO TAX ON A FREE TICKET***
Airport Authority Fee - Dominican Rep USD30.00
Airport Infrastructure Fee - Dominican Rep USD32.60
International Airport Departure Tax - Dominican Rep USD20.00
Departure Charge - Spain USD34.85
Security Tax - Spain USD10.95
Total government, authority and airport charges* USD1,094.96

British Airways fees and surchargesPer adult
Fuel Surcharge** USD530.00 ***THERE IS NO FUEL SURCHARGE ON AN IBERIA AWARD TICKET.****
Total British Airways fees and surcharges USD530.00

I used ITA to price out the example up thread.

It does sound like there is a glitch in the way the Dominican Departure Tax has been calculated. Something for BA reservations to look into.

This maybe obvious to many but it is not to me. How do you check availability and book award tickets on partner airlines with BA miles. Each time I try to check it on BA website, nothing shows available.

Specifically I was looking for two business class awards between MCO and HNL. There is nothing showing up in either direction between August and January. Am I doing it wrong? Or are the partner awards really that difficult to find? There is plenty of AA flights serving those two locations

Sorry, but I don't know either. I would just try by telephone.

IIRC when you search for a BA award flight on a route BA does not operate on it will say no BA flights found and give you a link to search for partner award availability.

Thanks uva185.
That is what I did (at least I believe I did that); the partner availability only lest you see 1 week at at time. I did scroll week-by-week for about 6 months and not a single flight was found.
Is BA limiting the availability on their partners' operated flights (similar to United's Star-Net blocking)?

Thanks stimpy.
That will probably be my last resort. I usually prefer knowing that what I am looking for is available before calling; I have experienced a lot of that on Delta

BA.com just isn't very good at digging out available seats on partner airlines. It does manage better when you search out sectors individually but you'll need to call BA to complete the booking.

You're welcome! I would search segment by segment if complete itineraries do not show up. Then just call BA and have them piece it together. I had to do this for an award on LAN for friends last year. BA waived the phone booking fee because I was not able to book it online.

Thanks.
Is there another site/application that is better for searching the availability?

I've always been well taken care of as Gold calling the Euro EC line. They go the extra mile (pun intended)

Well, one reason you find nothing is because there is no business class flown to HNL from MCO. Search in First, pick AA's 767 flights from DFW or ORD for AA Int'l business class seats (sold as First). From LAX and SFO it's a 757.

I just looked on AA and there are 7 dates showing in August going, many more coming back. IMHO these flights are an excellent source of Tier Points for you for BA considering 220TP each way via DFW or 420TP each way via MIA-LAX, which is Silver status in just one trip, and not a horrific paid fare, which might be a good incentive not to blow your miles on it.

When you are calculating the fees for the award on ita, do you just add up everything after the base fares.......including the YQ fuel?