I concurr with the above advice - travel together if you can...
But if you decide to try the BA A380 to LAX, make sure you don't get a K window seat in economy - I travelled downstairs in a K seat to FRA on one of the proving flights, and the IFE box, combined with the curvature of the fuselage basically meant that there was very little foot space left... These IFE boxes seem to be even larger than the VS ones....