re: Strategy to get "Early" JQ check-in for International
Sorry, your flow chart is incomplete - you didn't include all the steps involving asking QF staff to check you in and them refusing "because Jetstar is a different airline*".
* "unless it suits us to think otherwise"
The above statement implies that QF staff are at liberty to choose whether they can issue JQ boarding passes on a whim which is not correct.
QF use Altea to checkin & Jetstar use Navitaire so neither airline can access the other airlines system. Asking a QF CSA to check you in for a JQd or JQi flight (in isolation) would be just like asking them to check you in on VA flight as they physically cannot access the JQ checkin system.
The only exception would be when QF are appointed as the ground handling agent for JQ in a port and are doing the checkin for the JQi flights so would have sign-ons codes in order to access the JQ system as the checkin would be done in the JQ Navitaire system eg QF at BNE Intl used to do JQi checkin when JQ flew ex BNE trans-Tasman.
I understand that some QF Clubs do have access to a JQ system for the purpose of checking in pax on
JQ Domestic flights (not international A330 flights) departing from that same port. JQ have requested them to only check pax in on those flights departing within 2 hours and is in line with their own checkin policy at the airport where you cannot checkin more than 2 hours ahead of your flight departure. Of course you can OLCI & mobile checkin at T-48 however you cannot drop off checked luggage until 2 hours before.
I imagine it would be JQ Ops who would be responsible for opening a flight for checkin so QP's around Australia would only be able to check pax in once the flight has been opened as it's not something they have control over.
A QF CSA may in some cases be able to generate a boarding pass for a
JQi flight
if preceeded by a QF flight by virtue of the fact that QF have an IATCI (inter airline through checkin) agreement with JQ just as they do with certain other airlines. Below are examples of such scenarios but note that they
do not involve checking in to that airlines own system as all boarding passes are generated back to Altea.
MEL QF CNS JQ NRT
BNE QF DRW JQ DPS
ADL QF SYD JQ HKT
PER QF SYD JQ HNL
HBA QF SYD LA SCL LA GRU
DRW QF PER SA JNB SA CPT
ASP QF ADL EK DXB EK CDG
CNS QF BNE SQ SIN SQ TPE
IMHO whether you receive a JQ boarding pass in the above scenarios depends on the link being up between the QF & JQ systems at the moment you checkin. If you don't receive a JQ boarding pass at this time I believe you still show as having been checked in in the JQ system however the end result is with no JQ boarding pass you still need to acquire this prior to clearing customs at the city where you are boarding the JQ flight & hence the 'fun' begins.
I have only done one JQi flight within Australia and in this instance it was preceeded by a QF flight all in the same QF pnr using the multi-city tool for an ASA. BNE/SYD was a JASA & SYD/MEL was based on a Starter fare. I was able to OLCI & print out both boarding passes ie for QF8 & JQ35 - it's a good idea to save the boarding passes as a pdf doc as you only get one chance to print it out.
Other AFFers in the group who had booked the JQ35 flight totally separately via the JQ website were able to attempt OLCI (as this was permitted 18 months ago for JQi flights) & when they approached JQ staff at BNE Dom terminal they said "oh all of you are showing as having checked in already" so were happy to reprint the boarding passes. We attached our own orange 'D' stickers.