Hi,
I'd just like to add a couple of comments.
First, So, which is better, American or British English? Canadian English, of course. We have the best of both worlds.
Secondly, as a very big generalization, I'd say that once native speakers have established a 'temporal point of view' by using a special tense, they tend to go back to simpler tenses for additional comments in that same perspective.
For example, John walked into the interview room. That morning he had woken up early. He shaved carefully, he put on his best suit and he reviewed his notes. Michael Swan discusses this simplification of tenses in his Practical English usage (Section 595 in my 1994 edition), although his focus is on subordinate clauses.
Best wishes, Clive