More than 300 passengers stranded in Los Angeles airport after their Qantas flight to Melbourne was aborted on Saturday night were supplied a pillow and a blanket and told to sleep in the terminal during their 12-hour wait.

The wife of a Melbourne man on board the plane said only a third of the flight's 500 passengers were offered a hotel room.

The others were given a blanket, a pillow and food vouchers and told to get some sleep while they waited for a replacement flight.

Shauna Lye, wife of Melbourne lawyer James Alsop, said Qantas staff had told passengers there was a shortage of available hotel rooms in LA.