Was I just not paying attention? LAX - Europe
 

I now live in Europe (AMS), head office is in Houston and family in Los Angeles/Orange County. My preference when flying international is that, if a connection is required, do it before crossing the ocean. From AMS, that strategy is all but impossible and if a connection is done after crossing the ocean the connection times in the US to SNA and LAX are horrible from AMS or leave a 6 hour transcon.

I now realize that UA only flies from LAX to LHR. How long has it been this way? I can't imagine UA only having one european destination from LA. I know that the star alliance has things nicely covered but still....

As a 1K based in Los Angeles who frequently travels to Europe, I feel your pain. The LAX-LHR flight has been around for a while. Although I am not sure when it began, I recall flying this route as early as December 2014. I wish United would add another one or two European routes from LAX...perhaps Paris and Munich or Frankfurt. I guess the competition is too great with the other carriers or there are rules in place so that Star Alliance airlines won't compete against one another on exact same routes.

Looks like United bought the London route from Pan Am in 1990. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-...nited-airlines

Don't remember United ever flying from LAX to other European cities; SFO is their "real" West Coast hub and currently has service to LHR, CDG and FRA.

United launched LAX-FRA on a 777 circa 2007-2008. I'm not sure when they discontinued it.

LAX-LHR has been around for a long time with both AA and UA operating the route. Not sure if it is still around but, Delta got into the route as well post Bermuda 2.

Lots of *A options, just not UA metal. I assume you're not happy with this because you're chasing GS status (I feel you, missed out on GS for multiple years due to this). If booking on an award, then doesn't matter.

AMS-ARN-LAX on SK
AMS-MUC-LAX on LH
AMS-FRA-LAX on LH (x2 daily during the summer)
AMS-ZRH-LAX on LX
AMS-VIE-LAX on OS
Also AMS-LHR-LAX on NZ if you want to switch it up

AMS-DUB-LAX on ET requires and overnight and on EI has a long layover in DUB.

And now MUC seasonally as well. I think LAX-FRA (for *A connections) would be the only one worth contemplating, but if that was previously run and discontinued, it's hard to see that one coming back.

IIRC, only AA and UA fly LAX-LHR. DL exited after a brief stint ~2015. It is the only LAX-"Europe" route among the US3.

I flew UA LAX-CDG on 772 back in the dotcom era. It actually lasted longer than UA's LAX-FRA, iirc.

Interesting Article. Wonder what United would of been today if the two companies had of merged.

AMS-IST-LAX on TK

I love the LAX-LHR flight on NZ (they really seem to like their customers, seats are very comfortable in PE (as well as coach if you get the seats in row 59) and pricing is generally better than UA)

Not that any of that helps you with GS status (but I am 1K and will never make GS so am fine with *A flights)

The OP's issue is that you can't fly LHR-AMS on *A so the LAX-LHR flight is useless. I'm tempted to say that either SkyTeam or OneWorld would serve better and should probably become the focus. SkyTeam will be non-stop all the way, and OW offers good one-stop connections, with BA/AA joint venture having excellent service from LHR to LAX.

I have family who live in Orange County, and SNA is so much more convenient compared to LAX, especially with LA traffic. I see AMS-IAH-SNA and SNA-ORD-IAH most days with reasonable connection times on UA.

UA has a "larger European presence" because of the JV. LH and LX have service from LAX to MUC, FRA, and ZRH.

If you're still going for GS, then those *A options are of no use to you. Your best bet is to just connect somewhere in the US arriving nonstop from AMS, then connect to California. If you want to connect in Europe, your options to maintain GS go out the window.

Question, if you plan on living in AMS long enough, do you not find it worth it to switch to KLM? You'll be able to fly nonstop to LA and Houston, along with many other places in the US.

I know this may not be the most ideal but try LHR-KEF-LAX

I hate going through US Immigration and Customs anywhere but Dulles since it's 5 miles from home and if I get delayed, I just get home a bit later. I don't have to worry about dealing with delays and missing a connection, dealing with CBP and maybe getting delayed, or dealing with TSA foolishness after a long flight across the world.

I assume the OP is of a similar opinion and that's why he/she wants to not have to deal with connecting in Chicago or Dulles or Newark. While I would generally agree with the plan, it does sound like SNA is a better airport to terminate at, so going through ORD or IAH would probably get you home earlier.