We have several folks that live hither and yon. Some in the P.I., some in Dubai, several elsewhere. Bottom line is that if you don't live in the U.S. it's your responsibility to get to your base (or the location from which your trip starts). Some jumpseat and some buy tickets. We do fly freight through Sydney but the Qantas runs are notorious for being a moving target mostly due to changing customer requirements. I can't speak to taxes, though. Someone who actually does this will have to chime in about that.