Benefits of climbing to a SID FL... you can set standard pressure on the ground! Now that would free up RT time and cockpit workload after departure wouldnt it!!!!
It does with those low TA's. In the U.S. much of the training still centers on domestic operations so it has taken a while to get the geniuses back at the sim building to acknowledge that not everyone transitions at 18,000/FL180.
And, as sure as you've set QNE on the ground, you'll get 'cleared for takeoff, maintain 3000 feet'. It is nice to move all this altimeter setting confusion higher but some of it is cultural, we Americans enjoy simplicity in procedures, others seem to thrive on obscure detail.
And speaking of obscure detail:
This TA is different from what is used to the West of the Atlantic, as my understanding is that the TA over there is actually FL180, the last altitude is 17,999ft.
That's a new one on me. I always thought it was 18,000 feet in U.S. airspace. However, looking at the Airman's Information Manual it does say:
At and above 18,000 feet MSL (FL 180), state the words "flight level" followed by the separate digits of the flight level.
And to add to the discussion of that last foot, jet airways are listed in the AIM as starting at 18,000 feet, not FL180.
Anyway, don't know where that last foot went (is it lost in the transition layer, perhaps?) but we do get clearances to FL180 and sometimes it is not a legal FL due to low QNH.