Dec 24, 2015, 2:08 pm
Last edit by: Mwenenzi
American Begins LAX - AKL / Auckland, New Zealand 788 Flights 23 June 2016
No flights 5 August 2017 and 5 October 2017 Refer to post 230 link.
American’s Los Angeles to Auckland flight will be suspended from August to October, and will then be upgraded from a 787-8 to a 787-9
Departs LAX at 10:45 p.m.
Arrives at AKL at 6:35 a.m., two days later
AKL-LAX
Departs AKL at 1:20 p.m.
Arrives at LAX at 6:20 a.m., same day
Enhanced service includes mattress pads, pajamas and new meals items in Business Class.
If tonight's sampling at the launch event was an accurate preview, then here's the menu they provided for LAX-AKL:
Canape:
Salmon Caviar Tartlet
Main Plates:
Grilled Beef Filet, balsamic butter, twice baked potato, baby squash
Eggplant Lasagne, pomodoro sauce
Pesto Grilled Shrimp
Dessert:
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (Cherry Garcia, Chocolate Brownie, Strawberry Cheesecake)
Mid-Flight Snack:
Angus Beef Slider
White Wine:
Mt. Beautiful Sauvignon Blanc, North Canterbury, NZ
Red Wine:
Opawa Pinot Noir, Marlborough, NZ
Canape:
Salmon Caviar Tartlet
Main Plates:
Grilled Beef Filet, balsamic butter, twice baked potato, baby squash
Eggplant Lasagne, pomodoro sauce
Pesto Grilled Shrimp
Dessert:
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (Cherry Garcia, Chocolate Brownie, Strawberry Cheesecake)
Mid-Flight Snack:
Angus Beef Slider
White Wine:
Mt. Beautiful Sauvignon Blanc, North Canterbury, NZ
Red Wine:
Opawa Pinot Noir, Marlborough, NZ
Nov. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- American Airlines will add new nonstop service between its trans-Pacific gateway hub at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Auckland Airport (AKL) in June 2016, pending regulatory approvals. The route to Auckland provides American's customers direct access to a new destination and further strengthens the airline's joint business with Qantas Airways. American has added six new trans-Pacific routes over the last three years, nearly doubling its presence in the region...
...American plans to operate its new daily service between LAX and AKL with the newest addition to its fleet, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The Dreamliner features a state-of-the-art onboard travel experience including international Wi-Fi, as well as higher humidity and pressurization closer to sea level conditions, leaving customers more refreshed after their flight. Every seat has a touchscreen monitor equipped with up to 260 movies, 240 TV shows, 13 radio channels, 350 albums and 20 games, along with universal AC power outlets and a USB connection. The aircraft is configured with 28 fully lie-flat Business Class seats, each with direct-aisle access. There are an additional 55 Main Cabin Extra seats with extra legroom, and 143 Main Cabin seats. Link
...American plans to operate its new daily service between LAX and AKL with the newest addition to its fleet, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The Dreamliner features a state-of-the-art onboard travel experience including international Wi-Fi, as well as higher humidity and pressurization closer to sea level conditions, leaving customers more refreshed after their flight. Every seat has a touchscreen monitor equipped with up to 260 movies, 240 TV shows, 13 radio channels, 350 albums and 20 games, along with universal AC power outlets and a USB connection. The aircraft is configured with 28 fully lie-flat Business Class seats, each with direct-aisle access. There are an additional 55 Main Cabin Extra seats with extra legroom, and 143 Main Cabin seats. Link
Link to Australian Business Traveller article.
AA: service to Auckland, N. Z. / LAX-AKL as of 23 Jun 2016 (master thd)
Sep 21, 2016, 9:31 am
#166
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Gold (prev. Ex Plat for 10 years); DL Plat; UA Gold; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,338
Sep 22, 2016, 10:36 am
#168
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2009
Programs: Delta skymiles DM + 1MM
Posts: 8,144
Absolutely atrocious. AA should be ashamed of themselves. If you can't operate the route with any sort of on-time consistency, don't operate it at all until you can. Hopefully, people will realize there is a choice. It sounds like your better off connecting in SYD and take the reliable Delta flight to SYD then jump on Virgin to AKL.
Sep 22, 2016, 11:37 am
#169
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: BNA
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 766
Sep 23, 2016, 11:29 am
#171
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: BOS
Posts: 101
It's probably for the winter months due to Daylight Savings Time. AKL's time zone is 5 hours off from LAX in NZ winter/US summer and 3 hours off in US winter/NZ summer. That means that the flight has to shift timing for Daylight Savings.
Sep 23, 2016, 12:02 pm
#172
Join Date: Apr 2011
Programs: AAdvantage (Platinum)
Posts: 469
The flight times will change a few more times. I thought about updating the wiki but 1) I didn't want to search for the exact dates on when each time change in introduced, and 2) I don't see a need/reason for mentioning the time in the wiki (i.e., just delete it).
Sep 24, 2016, 5:45 pm
#174
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 810
Sep 24, 2016, 6:09 pm
#175
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: SFO/OAK
Programs: AA EXP 3.4MM, BAEC, UAMP, Skyteam (<10k) HH Gold, IHG Plat, Hertz Gold, GE/TSA TT
Posts: 2,723
i wouldn't worry ... i've been checking EF for 0-3 days out two or three times a week for quite some time, looking for J, U and C inventory. I've noticed that 83/82 show award and upgrade inventory from 0 to 2 days in advance, rarely 3 days ahead. As long as you see J>1 you're probably going to get upgraded.
Sep 26, 2016, 11:45 pm
#178
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Australia / USA
Programs: AS 100K, UA 1K, VA Platinum, HA Platinum, QF Gold, HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Gold
Posts: 414
The cauliflower steak is terrible!! Even for vegetarians, one giant slice of rubbery charred edged green cauliflower with two pieces of solid butter on top and chewy Farro risotto... doesn't appeal whatsoever. It's also a 5 dollar meal with how cheap the ingredients are.
The shrimp Penang, beef Wellington, and short ribs ultimately blow this vegetarian dish away. It's so sad that AA can't make a veggie dish as gourmet as the meat options.
Oh and there's a cherry tomato on the plate too... what a bonus!
Sep 27, 2016, 11:16 am
#179
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: BOS
Posts: 101
And you see you did all that worrying for no reason!
The cauliflower steak is terrible!! Even for vegetarians, one giant slice of rubbery charred edged green cauliflower with two pieces of solid butter on top and chewy Farro risotto... doesn't appeal whatsoever. It's also a 5 dollar meal with how cheap the ingredients are.
The shrimp Penang, beef Wellington, and short ribs ultimately blow this vegetarian dish away. It's so sad that AA can't make a veggie dish as gourmet as the meat options.
Oh and there's a cherry tomato on the plate too... what a bonus!
The cauliflower steak is terrible!! Even for vegetarians, one giant slice of rubbery charred edged green cauliflower with two pieces of solid butter on top and chewy Farro risotto... doesn't appeal whatsoever. It's also a 5 dollar meal with how cheap the ingredients are.
The shrimp Penang, beef Wellington, and short ribs ultimately blow this vegetarian dish away. It's so sad that AA can't make a veggie dish as gourmet as the meat options.
Oh and there's a cherry tomato on the plate too... what a bonus!
I'm flying the same route in 2 weeks (for work) and it's the only vegetarian option then too. Is it the same on the return or do they offer something different? Wish they'd follow Qantas's lead and do Indian Vegetarian...