AA's SYD-LAX flight

[UP4014]

I'll report back on the weekend.... AA72

That would be good, I fly AA a bit domestically and never had any problems, service fine, plane didn't crash, it is what it is.

Matt

 

[adrian]

AA72 - SYD-LAX - 15 Jan - business class

Service - the crew aren't the youngest out there, but they are experienced and they know what they are doing. I hear a lot of people complain about AA crew, but that hasn't been my experience at all - I generally find them fast, efficient and friendly, and the crew on this flight were no exception. Maybe it is because they are used to dealing with over-demanding Americans that they appreciate half a smile. I have a lot of friends who fly for QF, so if anything I should be biased in their favour, but the QF service I find very hit and miss, particularly on the 747's. I find CX service is generally good, but robotic. BA is also hit and miss.
Aircraft - I think that the 777-300's are new. If not, they are at least newly refurbished. The plane was in excellent condition, no signs of wear and tear, and very clean. The bathrooms were cleaned throughout the flights


Seats - same as the CX seat, so excellent.


Food - I've been a fan of AA food for a while. I almost always order the steak, and it is consistently good. The portions are generous - I am not usually a big eater, but I'm usually pretty hungry still after a QF meal.... especially when offered a "supper service" on a 7.50pm flight out of Narita (soup as a main, anyone???).

The self service bar and snack area wasn't as good as on previous AA 777 flights I have taken - the selection wasn't great, to be honest, mostly a bowl of fruit, some tiny chocolates, and potato chips. On the other hand, there was a mid-flight snack available that I haven't noticed before on AA flights before (maybe this was because it was a longer flight than I usually take). The mid-flight choices were a mezze plate or a steak sandwich, and the steak sandwich really was excellent. Really excellent.
Breakfast was good, standard fare, no complaints.


Other stuff - PJs were offered in J (but they only had L/XL avail, so I passed). They have a mattress topper, similar to QF, that I hadn't been offered before.


All up, it was a very good flight. I'd give it a 9 out of 10. Price being the same, I'd choose AA over QF.

 

[russ]

Thanks, I was about to book QF SYD/LAX but I am getting sick of the droopy J seats in the A380

Only in the US! "Pyjamas? We've got both sizes... large and extra-large!"

 

[adrian]

Thanks, I was about to book QF SYD/LAX but I am getting sick of the droopy J seats in the A380

Only in the US! "Pyjamas? We've got both sizes... large and extra-large!"

L/XL was the size. The other size was S/M, but they were out of those. At least the FA did go and look for a set....

 

[DC3]

Thanks, I was about to book QF SYD/LAX but I am getting sick of the droopy J seats in the A380 ....
!"

That's where my sturdy carry-on fits perfectly.

 

[cove]

We are trying AA in J in early Feb. It was not our first choice but that was what was available in the sale at $4999.
Lots of kickers for Mrscove with Aquire, passing 2400 status credits with a 50% bonus plus the normal points earn.

 

[wywk]

My friend and his wife just came back from Miami and they flew the new AA 72/23 SYD-LAX there and back. He said the experience through the whole trip was horrible and he swears never to take them again. He said they were unorganized, all his flights were late which made them almost miss their connection to Miami. They kept changing gates and even at some point had to change the plane.

He said the crew were unorganized, did not know what they were doing. The flight from SYD-LAX was long and the worst he's ever taken. Apparently the food was terrible too. On his way back from LAX to SYD, they had overbooked the flight and was asking passengers to give up their seat for some credits for future flights, I believe he says they were offering up to $1000.

Overall he gave the whole experience a very bad review. He flies a lot to Europe and has flown on various airlines and he says this is the worst he has ever experienced.

Seeing that Qantas has partnered with them, you'd expect some level of quality to match Qantas, but apparently it's a bit mess. I on the other hand flew Qantas from Syd/LAX on the A380, and as usual the crew and the whole experience was as good as expected. I was tempted to book on AA for my next flight to LAX since they are cheaper, but I decided not to now.

Has anyone flown on American Airlines' new AA72/73 SYD-LAX service yet?

I'd be interested to know how the service is (and how it compares to Qantas).

 

[RooFlyer]

My friend and his wife just came back from Miami and they flew the new AA 72/23 SYD-LAX there and back. He said the experience through the whole trip was horrible and he swears never to take them again. He said they were unorganized, all his flights were late which made them almost miss their connection to Miami. They kept changing gates and even at some point had to change the plane.

<snip>.

I'd cut them a bit of slack re "AA72/23" for the delays in the USA and gate changes, but the on-board experience does not bode well. They have stated that they are aiming to match QF on soft product and this suggests they have some ways to go (although one can get a bad QF TPAC also ).

 

[drron]

Was this in Y though.That is a totally different airline to the front cabins.

 

[wywk]

Was this in Y though.That is a totally different airline to the front cabins.

Yeah they flew economy. I suppose the experience would be different in J or F.

I've flown Business, premium and economy on Qantas long haul and they have always been very consistent throughout. I would expect AA to match the same comfort and service that Qantas provides with the partnership. Perhaps the flight was just too full for them to handle it properly, it seems some had better experiences from other reviews I've read when the flight was half-full.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

The flight from SYD-LAX was long

Well that's pretty much universal amongst the airlines on the route.

 

[wywk]

Well that's pretty much universal amongst the airlines on the route.

hehe I didn't mean it literally. What they meant was that it felt like a 'really long flight' that wasn't very enjoyable.

 

[Moindardt]

On his way back from LAX to SYD, they had overbooked the flight and was asking passengers to give up their seat for some credits for future flights, I believe he says they were offering up to $1000.

Overall he gave the whole experience a very bad review. He flies a lot to Europe and has flown on various airlines and he says this is the worst he has ever experienced.

AA regularly overbooks flights and offers money to reschedule. Normally you get the money as well as the rescheduled flight. I was talking to so AA customer service in DFW after seeing this a few times and they said it is generally a stampede and quite often they have regulars. Apparently it is a thing for uni students to book a number of flights on ones they think will be overbooked and try and cash out. ie 4 flights for $80 each and try and pick up 2-3 $300 payments. Apparently they capped it at $1000 per day per person to stop so much, but don't discourage as it fills seats and they always buy the cheapest tickets, and only benefit is AA has sold all the more expensive seats. Nice little scam for all involved.

I take people who say they fly to Europe economy (normally via Asia) with a grain of salt. A 14hr Y flight is at least twice as bad as a 9hr Y flight.

Personally I think QF has a better hard and soft product, but not so much that a $5000 J SYD-LAX is not very compelling. As an AA flight is 2x EQM, it is 30k EQM for a round trip. Add a few US domestic trips and it is very easy to maintain AA ExPlat, if you need to travel to the US occasionally. Add a few SWU's on the cheap Y and it makes a lot of decisions easier. There is also this bonus at the moment Fly between the U.S./ Canada and Australia and earn up to 90,000 bonus miles

Just did the 777-200 JFK-LHR and it was a very nice flight, and everyone says the 777-300ER is way better. I just hope they don't collect the BOSE headsets an hour beforehand on SYD-LAX as that is incredibly frustrating.

For anyone wanting a MR, you should consider SYD-LAX-HNL on AA for $1500 Y (all AA flight earn 1x EQM regardless of how deeply discounted Y it is - 10k EQM each way) and then do HNL-PTY j/f run for QF SC's (check out the best status run forum)

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Why would you credit syd to hnl on AAdvantage only to then do a status run from HNL for QFF status

 

[Moindardt]

AA Miles are worth a lot more than QF. You can do both to QF if you want but then you are better just flying direct to HNL on QF. There are many times when it is handy to have different options.

 

[dfcatch]

Was this in Y though.That is a totally different airline to the front cabins.

Well not quite drron.

QF A380 in Y is a pretty decent experience, and pretty darn decent service on the A380 as well.

Now - the 747 crews are a different story, as is the product.

And the other non-cabin-related service issues are relevant.

 

[drron]

Though I am only talking about AA and the experience is that the J and F cabins on AA might as well be a different airline to their Y cabin.
But I can only talk about J and F cabins comparing AA to QF.I have travelled in J and F on AA's 772 but only F on the 773.J and F on the QF 747s but only F on the A380-AFF has certainly spoilt me!
I prefer the seats on AA over QF.But that could certainly be due to my body shape.
In J I find the service is similarly inconsistent on both AA and QF.In F the AA crews have been consistently very good.Only 1 A380 flight so far and a good crew but not up to the best of the AA crews.
Food-I am no fan of Neil Perry.AA did have the lead but are going downhill.

All that said my preferred way to travel to the US would be JAL F SYD-NRT-USA.

 

[bosox76]

Slightly OT but just landed LAX on a 788 and if the hard product in the 773ER is the same then at least I'll be comfy. The soft product leaves a little to be desired though.

 

[bosox76]

Sorry for the consecutive posts. Was hoping for a little guidance. Mrs B and I are taking AA73 on saturday and we are planning on going to the QF F Lounge before going to T4 to board (as the AA Flagship obviously just doesn't compare).
1. Can we check in at TBIT or do we need to check in at T4.
2. If it is T4, would the best option be to walk outside and clear security at TBIT at go straight to the lounge or do we go through T4 security and take the internal bus
3. Finally once we're done at TBIT is there a bus that goes back to T4? I've never taken a bus from TBIT to T4 so not sure that that is possible.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Mattg]

My friend and his wife just came back from Miami and they flew the new AA 72/23 SYD-LAX there and back. He said the experience through the whole trip was horrible and he swears never to take them again. He said they were unorganized, all his flights were late which made them almost miss their connection to Miami. They kept changing gates and even at some point had to change the plane.

He said the crew were unorganized, did not know what they were doing. The flight from SYD-LAX was long and the worst he's ever taken. Apparently the food was terrible too. On his way back from LAX to SYD, they had overbooked the flight and was asking passengers to give up their seat for some credits for future flights, I believe he says they were offering up to $1000.

Overall he gave the whole experience a very bad review. He flies a lot to Europe and has flown on various airlines and he says this is the worst he has ever experienced.

Seeing that Qantas has partnered with them, you'd expect some level of quality to match Qantas, but apparently it's a bit mess. I on the other hand flew Qantas from Syd/LAX on the A380, and as usual the crew and the whole experience was as good as expected. I was tempted to book on AA for my next flight to LAX since they are cheaper, but I decided not to now.

Thanks for the review. Good to hear first-hand someone's experience on this flight in Economy. I never intended to use AA in Y on this route (I would almost certainly book QF instead if I had to go in Y) as I've found AA long-haul Y consistently awful. I thought that perhaps they might find it in them to do a better job on a route like SYD-LAX, particularly with so much quality competition. But this doesn't appear to be the case.

Was this in Y though.That is a totally different airline to the front cabins.

While I have no doubt that AA can be good in the premium cabins, this doesn't excuse them from offering poor service in economy. I've had some fantastic QF flights to/from the USA in economy, so it appears the difference is pretty significant. I don't think that poor Y service is irrelevant considering that the vast majority of passengers do in fact fly in Y.