AA's SYD-LAX flight

[Princess Fiona]

Just returned from the US and flew AA SYD-LAX return in J on AA72 and AA73 purchased as QF codeshares. Was very impressed. MUCH cheaper than QF when I booked, seat is great, service was good, food nearly as good as QF (and service much faster), nice cotton pj's, good Cole Haan amenity kit. All in all very good flights. Feel free to ask questions.

Agree with this.
Flew AA72 in June and it blew QF out of the ball park for a solo J passenger.

 

[travs]

I made my second return trip on 72/73. It was much better than my first experience back in February. The good:

• Food was vastly improved. The Fillet this time wasn't cooked to death. I do think the catering was better out of SYD than LAX.
• Service was improved during meals; the philosophy is very different. AA is basically "here's your stuff, we'll leave you alone.". Impossible to get a refill w/o pushing the button but they just pour you an entire tumbler of wine. I guess that works for some; I'd prefer service to be more attentive in general, but each has its merits.
• I really do appreciate the air vents vs. CX.

Bad:

• wines are terrible. I mean, 5 dollar wine bad. QF has better in Y.
• Flight attendants do NOT stop gabbing among themselves. In row 5 one way and 6 on the other and they are just talking the whole time. There are no curtains between the bar/kitchen/lav area and the main J cabin. the lights are on and they just loudly talked the whole time. I could only sleep w/ ear plugs AND my noise cancellers on.
• Couldn't get a second pillow for my pregnant wife. Asked, they said "I'll check" and never had follow up. We gave up. This is opposed to QF, in which a recent flight they checked on my wife multiple times during the flight and did everything they could to keep her comfy.

I'm happy to say that it was definitely a better experience than in Feb, but I really do think the soft product is still really bad. I think it's economy class service with better seats. It's very minimal and makes little effort to feel like a higher class of service.

This is a general observation: I think there's a difference with service on US carriers on how they treat Aussies vs. Americans. I, as the latter, feel like service sucks and get treated poorly. Conversely, I have observed Australians who say the same on QF, whereas I feel service on QF is great compared to US carriers.

So, if the fares are the same, I wouldn't fault anyone for taking 72/73 if they want to sleep, just sit mid-cabin and not the front rows in J. Personally, I prefer QF

As an aside, I also took the A321T to JFK from LAX in J. Now *that* was by far the best domestic flight I've ever taken. I actually like that seat better than the 773 J seat. It's easier to talk to wife (hard in the middle seats on 773), the screens are better (and you don't have to tilt them away) , the tray tables slide back and forth, etc. Food was decent, wine sucked (recurring theme.) But, honestly, I'd rather take that plane than anything else in the AA fleet (and i think I've flown them all at this point.)

 

[Timtammi]

Interesting comments Trav. I sat in 3J both over and back and did not notice any undue noise from the crew or the galleys. If it had been there I would have noticed as I too hate that and find it really annoying. Regarding service, its true that the AA staff are more cavalier/casual than QF J staff but that doesn't really bother me. Most of the time I found they made an effort to try and use my name at least some of the time and to give good service where they could. I felt it didnt necessarily come natuarally to them but I could tell they were trying (most of them anyway). Regarding drinks service, I found that on both legs I had to actively stop them trying to "refresh" my drink all the time, even when I had only drunk half of it. They also poured me the biggest whiskey I think I have ever been given and I think that probably had something to do with the good sleep I had after that.

 

[travs]

One more point: the Wifi on SYD-LAX leg was unusable. I tried multiple times and didn't get anywhere with it. It simply wouldn't load anything. On the way back, it was good until about 2 hours left in the flight, at which point it was flaky. My Wifi experience in Feb was much better. I've asked for a refund from T-mobile on the service; still processing on that.

Domestic AA wifi is great and much faster than the old days.

Two pro tips:

1. If flying AA domestic and you want Wifi, buy the GoGo Day pass on the ground before flying. It's cheaper than in the air. I think it's $16USD for a full day internet.
2. I got a Hoo Too travel router while in the states and it's awesome for flying. You can connect with one pass to the plane wifi and then your other devices can just connect to the travel router. It works *great*; had two laptops and both phones on wifi for the price of one pass.

 

[Quickstatus]

One more point: the Wifi on SYD-LAX leg was unusable. I tried multiple times and didn't get anywhere with it. It simply wouldn't load anything. On the way back, it was good until about 2 hours left in the flight, at which point it was flaky. My Wifi experience in Feb was much better. I've asked for a refund from T-mobile on the service; still processing on that.

Domestic AA wifi is great and much faster than the old days.

Two pro tips:

1. If flying AA domestic and you want Wifi, buy the GoGo Day pass on the ground before flying. It's cheaper than in the air. I think it's $16USD for a full day internet.
2. I got a Hoo Too travel router while in the states and it's awesome for flying. You can connect with one pass to the plane wifi and then your other devices can just connect to the travel router. It works *great*; had two laptops and both phones on wifi for the price of one pass

thanks for the info re Hoo too router!!!

 

[maz1]

Agree with this.
Flew AA72 in June and it blew QF out of the ball park for a solo J passenger.

thanks for the info re Hoo too router!!!

How about if flying Syd-LAX? How do you connect and what does it cost?

 

[Princess Fiona]

How about if flying Syd-LAX? How do you connect and what does it cost?

It's $19 US for unlimited wi-Fi for the duration of the flight. Connect through AA.com on your device.
Ok for basic web-browsing and Facebook/ Social Media. Not suitable for streaming.

I managed to browse AFF, upload some pics to messenger and update a few Facebook group posts.

 

[maz1]

It's $19 US for unlimited wi-Fi for the duration of the flight. Connect through AA.com on your device.
Ok for basic web-browsing and Facebook/ Social Media. Not suitable for streaming.

I managed to browse AFF, upload some pics to messenger and update a few Facebook group posts.

that is just perfect for me - i'm kind-of addicted to Facebook so i'll be happy-as!
thank you for the information

 

[Princess Fiona]

that is just perfect for me - i'm kind-of addicted to Facebook so i'll be happy-as!
thank you for the information

You're welcome, enjoy

 

[big_RED]

I've just booked my first ever points award seats through Qantas for this AA SYD to LAX flight in business class.

However on my ticket it does not list me as business. Just as"confirmed". However for the Qantas Business award seats return it says "business confirmed" on the same ticket.

Should I be concerned about the AA leg and that it won't be business? I have already locked in my AA business class seats on my Qantas dashboard so I'm hoping it's all ok

 

[PaulybGC]

I've just booked my first ever points award seats through Qantas for this AA SYD to LAX flight in business class.

However on my ticket it does not list me as business. Just as"confirmed". However for the Qantas Business award seats return it says "business confirmed" on the same ticket.

Should I be concerned about the AA leg and that it won't be business? I have already locked in my AA business class seats on my Qantas dashboard so I'm hoping it's all ok

Hi big_RED , i recently did the same but selected my seats through the AA website. Seat selection is now showing up on my e-ticket as just Confirmed as well. fingers crossed that's normal, i depart on Sunday so will soon see...

 

[Moindardt]

Wow. Can't believe the availability is so wide open and the taxes are so low!!! Is QF actually trying to be decent???

 

[Mattg]

Wow. Can't believe the availability is so wide open and the taxes are so low!!! Is QF actually trying to be decent???

I'm not sure that QF would be doing this just to be nice. The taxes are low as AA doesn't have fuel surcharges. And in terms of award availability, this is likely due to the fact that there is now too much capacity between the USA and Australia.

 

[TomVexille]

Wow. Can't believe the availability is so wide open and the taxes are so low!!! Is QF actually trying to be decent???

If you're talking about AA, neither of those have anything to do with QF

 

[codash1099]

I'll be looking to using AA next time I have to book a US trip. If nothing else, I'll avoid all the "through checking of baggage" troubles that now come with QF bookings. QF don't have enough code-shares to other ports in the US for me to go that way.

 

[Moindardt]

If you're talking about AA, neither of those have anything to do with QF

Nothing of what happens in AA necessarily translates to QF and vice versa. The point is they don't necessarily have to allow or charge what the other carrier does. Because QF charges "carrier charges" on its flight, doesn't mean AA does or does not have to (eg look at the insane charges on BA awards for AA).

eg. DFW-SYD AA Y DFW-LAX QF J LAX-SYD

AA 80,000 miles and US$27.90
QF 112,000 points and US$453.69

Eg. SYD-LAX AA J

AA 80,000 miles and US$80.16
QF 96,000 points and A$106.87

Eg. SYD-LAX QF J

QF 96,000 points and A$465.45

Explain the logic in that? QF is encouraging you to use AA for the awards flights. AA charge basically the same no matter which.

 

[TomVexille]

Nothing of what happens in AA necessarily translates to QF and vice versa. The point is they don't necessarily have to allow or charge what the other carrier does. Because QF charges "carrier charges" on its flight, doesn't mean AA does or does not have to (eg look at the insane charges on BA awards for AA).

eg. DFW-SYD AA Y DFW-LAX QF J LAX-SYD

AA 80,000 miles and US$27.90
QF 112,000 points and US$453.69

Eg. SYD-LAX AA J

AA 80,000 miles and US$80.16
QF 96,000 points and A$106.87

Eg. SYD-LAX QF J

QF 96,000 points and A$465.45

Explain the logic in that? QF is encouraging you to use AA for the awards flights. AA charge basically the same no matter which.

My point exactly. QF can sell you only what AA allows them to sell.

 

[Moindardt]

My point exactly. QF can sell you only what AA allows them to sell.

AA chooses to charge "Carrier charges" on BA but does not on QF & AA.

QF chooses to charge "Carrier charges" on QF & BA but does not on AA.

There is nothing to say QF can't charge them on AA. "QF can sell you only what AA allows them to sell" but that doesn't mean they have to charge you the same.

 

[TomVexille]

AA chooses to charge "Carrier charges" on BA but does not on QF & AA.

QF chooses to charge "Carrier charges" on QF & BA but does not on AA.

There is nothing to say QF can't charge them on AA. "QF can sell you only what AA allows them to sell" but that doesn't mean they have to charge you the same.

But that would be because BA charge YQ.

 

[big_RED]

Hi big_RED , i recently did the same but selected my seats through the AA website. Seat selection is now showing up on my e-ticket as just Confirmed as well. fingers crossed that's normal, i depart on Sunday so will soon see...

Sounds identical to what's happened to me.

Wow. Can't believe the availability is so wide open and the taxes are so low!!! Is QF actually trying to be decent???

Yeh I had looked the 352 days out and nothing was available, and then found these and was happy!
2 business class tickets to LAX return. To LAX with AA, return with QA, $1,005 total for two people.
My partner a month earlier will be going SYD to San Fran and on QA return J it was $800 in taxes for 1 person. So AA is cheaper as everyone is saying. Looking forward to see how business class is. Never done it before!