How To Use Miles On Flights To Tahiti

Don't forget u can also go via Honolulu on Hawaiian.

Thanks Lucky,
I believe there is another option to fly Air New Zealand through Auckland. This might give Star Alliance members a chance to use miles as well.

So my wife and I just got back from our honeymoon to Bora Bora and we flew Air Tahiti Nui with AA miles. I called exactly 365 days out from the flight date to secure the two business class seats. We had a conveniently long 13 month engagement, so I was able to get seats on Air Tahiti Nui, Air New Zealand (we spent a second week in New Zealand) and Qantas business class back! The TN seats weren't loaded until about 1am CT time, so I had to call back a few times before an agent could grab them. They only release two seats in business per flight, so if you are going over a busy period (we went the week before Thanksgiving), you may be out of luck if you can't plan your trip 12 months out.

It's important to note that not all TN planes, including the LAX-PPT route, are operated with the new business class. As of November 2014, still on three of the five planes have been converted. And, our flight attendant confirmed that at least once a week an old, recliner style business class plane is used on the LAX route. Unfortunately for us, that's exactly what we had. It was certainly a step-up from coach, but given the variable risk I likely would have opted instead to get seats on the Air France flight had that worked for our schedule. Also, be careful of arrival times and connecting flights to islands like Bora Bora. On Sundays, all the shops at PPT are closed and the airport is not air conditioned, so it can be a miserable place to spend a 2-3 hour layover!

6,250,000 AA miles for one-way business award on Air Tahiti Nui? Wow !!! Does that come with benefits on the side??? 😛

UR do not transfer to Korean anymore. Where have you been?

125,000 AA miles each for 2 passengers round trip PHL to LAX (USair) LAX to PPT (Air Tahiti Nui) all in first/ biz class

I booked 2 flights 330 days out using AA miles on Air Tahiti Nui(TN) by checking expertflyer first and calling an AA agent to lock in the award. 62.5k one way in Domestic first on USAir and business from LAX to PPT. Went smoothly. 10% back using Citi AA Plat, so for 2 tickets 115k one way + $80 in booking/fees there & 115k + $179 return.
The kicker is the $500 RT per ticket to Bora Bora on Air Tahiti that can not be booked on points.

Don't forget about the No Codeshare option for the ExpertFlyer Award search. Does that help to block the AF codeshare flights?

I booked 2 flights 330 days out using AA miles on Air Tahiti Nui(TN) by checking expertflyer first and calling an AA agent to lock in the award. 62.5k one way in Domestic first on USAir and business from LAX to PPT on Air Tahiti Nui. Went smoothly. 10% back using Citi AA Plat, so for 2 tickets 115k one way + $80 in booking/fees there & 115k + $179 return.
The kicker is the $500 RT per ticket to Bora Bora on Air Tahiti that can not be booked on points.

Good post. Interesting as this is also on my bucket list like many folks. I wonder where I would stay when there as I've never researched it. It seems like hotels/resorts would be expensive there.

Since this is a pretty straightforward LAX-PPT flight we are talking about, you should list the fuel surcharges in the charts as well. Are they the same in both directions?

Also, how long is the flight and which is the best mileage program/carrier in economy?

I've been posting for a while about the "Stealth Devaluation" AA is doing with their FF Program. But like Gilbert, even I was shocked to see 6,250,000 miles for a one way Business Class Award ! 🙂

Sorry, I should do my own goggling. The flight is 8h20min from LAX and 6h from HNL.

Also, there's sporadic service from LAN (from IPC, Easter Island) - bookable with Avios.
And Air New Zaeland flies there from AKL if you want to connect in Middle Earth.

Didn't you write an article on this subject last May? Just saying.. 😛 (and I remember, because I discovered the JAL AF redemption)

@ Lucky: I am new here so please bear with me. I am just curious and wondering on why do you encourage or explain in detail on how to get to Tahiti by Air France and not JAL, since I see in the chart that the mileage redemption for roundtrip in JAL is much more less than if we redeem miles on Air France (65k vs 150k roundtrip).
Can you please also post a guide on how to find award availability and redeem it on JAL (since it's "by far the lowest mileage cost of any program to Tahiti"), as you did with Air France and Air Tahiti Nui on this primer? Thanks a lot.

As others have said, Hawaiian is an option too. And I beleive Hawaiian permits free stopovers in Honolulu for all transpacific flights

The RT from Tahiti to Bora Bora can be booked using Chase UR points via the UR site. You can also book flights to a couple of the other islands such as Moorea, although Moorea is just a short, inexpensive ferry ride from Tahiti.

I will be traveling to Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora in June. First, I will be making a ten day stay in Hawaii, so I am flying Hawaian from Kauai to Honolulu to Tahiti, using AA miles (FC from HNL to PPT.) Then flying Air Tahiti to Moorea and then to Bora Bora, returning to Tahiti using Chase UR points. The return home trip is booked with AA miles in FC. Return from Tahiti to Honolulu on Hawaian, Honolulu to Portland on Alaska and Portland to Charlotte on US Air. I would much, much prefer to fly Air France FC from Tahiti to LAX but I have been checking thru Delta and Alaska and have not found anything yet. My return date, leaving Tahiti is June 27th (but I could easily stay another day or two) so if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate the tip.

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Incredibly helpful post! Thanks Ben 🙂

Not sure if you can go on Air NZ metal anymore Akl- PPT they don't fly to Ppt they code share with Air Tahiti Nui. The only Air NZ metal into PPT is the 1-2 flights weekly from Rarratonga. If you book your accommodation through Air Tahit ( this is the domestic one) they are very competitive and the airfares are then a lot cheaper. They have great deals for locals, which means you have to visit their office in PPT. Land are about to intro duce a 787 on this route though this is a long route to get there, Air Calin via Nouméa would be as quick. Remember no one ever said, heaven would be cheap, especially if you are going to Boring Boring.

@ Geoffrey -- Sorry for any confusion, but I do mention Japan Airlines and the redemption value to Tahiti. Let me know if I can answer anything specifically.

@ Physecon -- It's temporary. The capability should be back soon.

@Lucky, has Chase UR confirmed that Korean will come back as a transfer partner? The secure message I received from Chase last week after inquiring about it was "At this time, the redemption option to transfer rewards to Korean Airlines is not available. We are currently unable to confirm if or when this redemption option will return."
I hope it does come back as a transfer partner but Chase is being quite evasive on the whole issue.

I'll be going to Tahiti in September 2015. I used my AA miles to fly AA/TN from JFK. Can't wait!!! 🙂

@Duncan, Air NZ metal still flies to PPT but only a few times a week. I even heard that they will use one of their 787s to go there someday, perhaps in 2016. I also heard LAN will be flying its 787-9s on its SCL-AKL-SYD route.

Had no issues snagging 2 in biz for August on Air Tahiti Nui redeeming AA miles. I booked them a month ago and had numerous days to pick from. 62.5k miles per person with AUS-LAX in first and LAX-PPT in business. I just hope the planes are all configured in the next 6-9 months.

FWIW, I have been incredibly lucky with the devaluation in AA miles lately when booking awards. I have burned close to 1M miles in the last 6 months with flights to BKK (via HKG) for 55k each way in business. I"m guessing luck will run out one day soon...

Lucky--

Is booking through Flying Blue the only way to book Premium Economy? There's 0 availability on Air Tahiti Nui and AF for business class in January when I'm trying to take my wife...so need to get the next best thing.

150k Flying Blue miles and 60k delta, 70k Chase UR... just trying to assess options!

Cheers!

Lucky,

I read some old posts on flyertalk mentioning that you can upgrade coach tickets to business class for a copay of $600 to $900 assuming availability and that you arrive at the airport 3 to 4 hours before departure. Do you know anything about this?