Taking one for the team on AA to LAX from Sydney

[cove]

We used AA Miles to fly from Sydney to Los Angeles on AA72 in first as a tester. Yes the icecream sundae and the lunch steak were winners.
My problem was my Resmed sleep machine only worked for about 10 minutes and then the power supply stopped. A flight for about 13 hours with no working internet at all and no way to drop off into dreamland made the flight feel like an endurance record. I had not brought a battery back up nor a good book to read. So two big mistakes on a longhaul ride was not great.
i checked with Mrscove and she was not impressed with AA in first and is looking forward to coming home with Singapore Airlines.

 

[cove]

Yes our first world problem is over and we are still running up AA Miles or Kris Flyer Miles on our US credit cards. Having slept off the jetlag we are heading off to pick up a hire car that we booked thru Arguscarhire.com last night.
The weather in Marina del Rey is cool and clear after lots of rain so we can see Catalina Island from our apartment.
I think Mrscove will use her AA Miles on Qatar for London.

 

[DC3]

I’d love to do that flight SYD-LAX-SYD, with AA, probably just in Business, although First would be great. One day.

 

[cove]

It is getting better. Our Sixt car hire for a Toyota Camry morphed into a BMW 533i. Had to get out the manual to get the car into reverse once we parked it. Only got honked twice in the first couple of hours driving. Once for not going right at a red light when it is ok to do that once stopped and second when three lanes merged into two.
it is Friday here so it is busy on the roads.

 

[cove]

Well DC3 you can buy AA Miles at AA.com but wait for the promo.
We had done AA business about a decade ago and we both enjoyed it.
Tipping here has moved to 20%.

 

[Myrna]

I think Mrscove will use her AA Miles on Qatar for London.

Agree. AA miles on Qatar in first to Doha then London.

 

[Myrna]

Tipping here has moved to 20%.

 

[cove]

We are in Los Angeles County and the cost of living is quite a bit higher than say Arizona or Nevada.
Tipping used to be double the sales tax which would work out to be about 17%.
Under 20% here would not be appreciated in 2024.

 

[serfty]

i checked with Mrscove and she was not impressed with AA in first and is looking forward to coming home with Singapore Airlines.

Makes sense. I'm doing AA PE AKL-DFW in a couple of weeks. I'm not expecting much.

 

[cove]

Well @serfty we are having our first non business trip to the US after 44 years of business travel.
It was only after I had the heart bypass operation 29 years ago that I moved out of economy flying.
Let us know how you go with PE.

 

[LCC]

We are in Los Angeles County and the cost of living is quite a bit higher than say Arizona or Nevada.
Tipping used to be double the sales tax which would work out to be about 17%.
Under 20% here would not be appreciated in 2024.

After years of travel to the US I have become more relaxed about the tipping culture and I agree that earlier this year 20% seemed to be the norm but my opinion is this should be on the basis the waitstaff are expected to share out a portion of their tips to the kitchen staff. What I find irritating is the increasingly frequent practice of a 3%+ service charge added to support kitchen staff wages or similar. So the tip becomes 23%+ and then of course there is the debate about whether the 20% gets added to the ex tax or the inc. tax total (both variations seem to apply depending on the establishment).
But try not to dwell too much on all of this and enjoy your holiday!

 

[cove]

I will watch out for the 3% surcharge @LCC. We lived in Orange County in Southern California for a year in 1984 and I think tipping was 10% way back then.
Haven’t ventured to Costco yet and our local is one big block away. We are still a bit jet lagged.
Haven’t had a Silver Oak yet to make @Cruiser Elite pay attention just yet.

 

[Brissy1]

And, CA now doesn't have the "non-tip" waiter pay category (the reason tipping is expected in usa); there are complaints degree qualified people are taking those jobs from unskilled workers because of the quite high take-home pay.
Australia... I do appreciate it.
Although one barman commented "Australians...they don't tip".

 

[Brissy1]

I’d love to do that flight SYD-LAX-SYD, with AA, probably just in Business, although First would be great. One day.

Mmm, I was very, very disappointed (J).

 

[cove]

We were lulled into the idea of flying on AA72 from both of us flying in business class years ago when the Boeing777 being used was virtually a new plane.
This flight the movies had to get re-set several times and the video controller was not easy to use.
The seat mostly worked but not always on the first go. I was in 1A and 1D had to be worked on early in the flight so I was lucky there.

 

[Brissy1]

We were lulled into the idea of flying on AA72 from both of us flying in business class years ago when the Boeing777 being used was virtually a new plane.
This flight the movies had to get re-set several times and the video controller was not easy to use.
The seat mostly worked but not always on the first go. I was in 1A and 1D had to be worked on early in the flight so I was lucky there.

Flying 1st class, just to help us all keep informed.
Such a trooper , what AFFers do, above and beyond.

 

[bam71]

Ok .. so take out is avoid AA first transpacific …that’s what I’m getting here

 

[DC3]

Flying 1st class, just to help us all keep informed.
Such a trooper , what AFFers do, above and beyond.

Took one for the team

 

[Dr Ralph]

Tipping here has moved to 20%.

Only if you pay it.

 

[cjd600]

With wife and 2 pre-teen kids in the row 3-4 mini cabin 777 AA J, on QF awards, had great flights SYD-LAX-SYD. This was 2018 though.
Well, my Sam Adams beer after SYD departure was sort of frozen in the can rendering into a slushy-like experience, but other than that we had a good experience.
Wow, in 24 hrs I have defended, by experience, both AA and BA J fights....maybe our bar is too low.
Granted we did prefer SQ R class lol