It's no secret that Alaska Mileage Plan miles are extremely valuable. Alaska doesn't belong to any alliance, but they do have several unique airline partners both for earning and redeeming miles. Typically when I talk about redeeming Alaska miles I highlight the value of redeeming them for travel on Cathay Pacific and Emirates, in particular…
Continue reading: The Next Award Redemption I’m Most Excited To Make
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Westin Fiji was nice enough--
http://upgrd.com/matthew/review-of-the-westin-denarau-island-resort-spa-in-nadi-fiji.html
Technically, you're in Hong Kong so you can just hop south on a Fiji Airways A330. Won't hurt...
Those J seats looks like the regional J seats that both SQ and BR use for their A330s.
It's not the best product, but the food is decent and the service is Fiji friendly. Why they put those seats on their brand new planes, I'll never know.
The Intercon is nice, but that part of Fiji (basically the whole of Viti Levu) lacks a bit of what is unique about Fiji - the various island chains, and the 'unspoiled north' island of Vanua Levu.
The other major chain hotels are forgettable, especially in Denarau.
My family owns and runs a resort on Vanua Levu called Koro Sun Resort. While we don't have the white sand beaches of the Mamanuca chain, we do have some of the only over-water units in Fiji, and just about every other type of accommodation you could prefer. If you're interested in coming up that way, while we can't offer you loyalty points, surely we could arrange some upgrades and champagne 😉
Hi, Lucky. I was looking at this option to get from LAX to Australia or New Zealand. I'm also looking at HA from HNL as another option. In terms of aircraft and service, which would you prefer, Fiji or Hawaiian? I seem to have read that HA is looking to upgrade some of their aircraft. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!
You should strongly consider staying at the interconti for a couple nights and then take a boat to one of the nearby island resorts (theres a bunch of companies that run multi-daily trips) for a couple days. Not going to get the whole island feeling staying on Nadi as hotels on Nadi (and nadi in general) is kind of disappointing (would compare to like freeport in the Bahamas).
My wife and I chose the Hilton on Denarau as part of an award redemption under the old DL rules - details of the redemption, the hotel, and our activities in Fiji (with lots of pictures) here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1506607-australia-fiji-photos-29k-miles-5-carriers-wn-y-va-j-qf-y-j-fj-j-ke-j.html
The Intercontinental is off in the middle of nowhere...and, you can visit the beach there without even staying there (we did and you can see pictures of Natadola Beach in my FT TR). If you're staying in Fiji for any period of time, you'll want to take a boat or flight out to and stay at one of the more remote islands (for example, Cast Away was filmed near Mana Island).
Ben, if u have time, make sure u visit one of the smaller Fiji islands. While Nandi is nice, the islands are amazing. Most of the time, the island has only one or two resorts. They are a bargain compared to the resorts in Hawaii.
Fiji is beautiful. The people are kind and welcoming. Highly recommend you get off the main island for the true island experience. While no one else mentioned it, you should be aware of the tensions between the native islanders and the Indians who were brought to the island by the British and stayed. Also, when I visited, there was a bloodless coup, so armed military (this has happened many times in Fiji). My friend, who is well traveled to problem areas recommends that you don't stare or you'll get their attention. Not that this will happen while you are there, but you never know.
Hi Lucky - what are your travel dates? Are you traveling in May or are those sample dates?
You really need to consider a few of the hotels in Fiji outside the major chains. I might have some suggestions for you.
Intercontinental is lovely and relatively new (built in 2009). I would absolutely stay away from the Sheraton. I went there 20 years ago and has not been renovated since. Like others, I'd recommend spending a few nights at Intercontinental then heading to one of the islands l.
Love, love, love New Zealand. One of our top five all time favorite destinations. Please tell me you're ultimately headed on to the South Island, and not just stopping at Auckland. The North Island is nice enough but the most amazing part of NZ is the South Island.
I have flown Fiji Airways form SYD-NAN in J and I had a great flight. The cabin is gorgeous and the service pretty good. I have stayed twice now at the Westin hotel at Denarau and it's gorgeous. It has a true authentic Fiji feel and the staff are wonderful. You are a 14min walk from the Port Denarau or quick 5min open air shuttle. You can catch day trips, shopping, food etc. The resort is stunning and very Fijian. Though I would highly recommend going out to the islands for a night to get a true feel for Fiji and it's amazing crystals clear water and white sandy beaches, eg: castaway island. There a lots of great hotels in Fiji but the Westin by far gives you a feel that you are actually in Fiji and not some random 5 star resort that could be in Florida. I wrote a trip report on flyertalk about my experience with Fiji airways and the Westin.
When in Fiji, you must let go of your miles and point. True Fiji is off the main island, period. Whatever you do, do not waste points on Denarau resort; except when transiting; and go to the archipelago. Octopus resort or Blue Lagoon are two great places to stay at, for example. Independent hotels, nicely run, in paradise.
I was eyeing that redemption myself for one of my trips to New Zealand. The ultimate in Fiji is Laucala. One place I really want to stay is Royal Davui. What others have said about Nadi is true - you will not get a feel for the real Fiji. The Radisson is decent.
Laucala is one of the best resorts in the entire world, let alone just Fiji. That's what you want.
1000% agree with the other commenters that you should get out to one of the thousand islands on Fiji. The experience is so much better. Yasawas are the way to go.
Fiji blew my expectations out of the water, but it was only by island hopping in the Yasawas. It's easy. Feel free to email me if I can help. If you just stay at the Intercontinental, you will have a fine resort experience, but it would be a shame.
How far in advance are Alaska awards on Fiji airlines available for booking? Thanks.
I am fairly excited that I can offer Ben some first-hand advice!
I strongly agree with what many others have said: forget the points and stay at a small resort on one of the outer islands. Splurge on the Royal Dauvi. It will be so much more memorable and special then that Westin. I've also been to Wakaya Club; the island is gorgeous, the service is very good, but the decor is severely dated.
Ben, some may criticize you for wanting to go to a country that has a history of being deeply homophobic. I've been to Fiji twice with my boyfriend and never had any issues. We were shown nothing but friendship, kindness and respect.
IC Fiji is nice. There are certainly better places on Fiji, but nothing wrong with the IC. Great club lounge on the hill w/ private club pool and amazing views.
A footnote to my previous comment: the Royal Dauvi is, mercifully, an adults only environment. It was a figurative--and literal!--breath of fresh air. Such a beautiful place.
Great post. I travel to Vanuatu about once a year from the USA and this would be a convenient and low cost routing as I have had to go to New Zealand or Australia to catch a flight there. I think Vanuatu is only a three hour flight from Fiji.
I just booked the Marriott Hotel in Bangkok with Marriott's Hotel+Air package which will give me back 120,000 airline miles. I opted for Alaska miles as I have used them for Emirates and recently Qantas First Class cabins. Alaska miles are incredibly useful.
You should do Hainan Airlines as they are now officially a partner with Alaska Miles!!!!!!
Ben!
Shhhhh! I thought we agreed that the tasty Alaska redemptions were just a secret between the two of us!
Awesome! I've been looking at Fiji to get back from NZ next year, as I wouldn't mind an angled seat on a daytime flight as much.
If you really want an incredible experience try
Laucala Island, one of the best resorts in the world.
Get out to the Mamanucas, or, better yet, the Yasawas. They are beautiful, and the diving is fantastic.
I stayed on resort-heavy Denarau and can say that the Sheraton was deifinitely mediocre. However, the Radisson Blu was fantastic.
I recently stayed at the Westin for 1 night. The location is Ok, but the suite we had wasn't very good. My wife tweeted at 2am to Westin that the bed clearly wasn't the advertised 'Heavenly' bed.
The area near the airport is the least Fijian part of Fiji. You must get out to the islands to see what this place is all about.
Fiji airways is pretty good though, but they can have major delays when one of their planes gets out of rotation. A plane was damaged in LAX in May and the schedule was screwed for weeks afterwards!
The J seats are much better than the Air Tahiti Nui ones that look very similar and were installed at about the same time.
Been to the Intercontinental Fiji. Was very nice, though a bit isolated --- great for couples, not sure I'd go alone. I did 5 nights there + 2 night on Malolo island (and visited many of the islands around it, including Mana/Castaway). These last 2 days were the best. I'd recommend island hopping for a good 3-5 days to enjoy a lot.
You might consider flying to Fiji and then onward to Western Samoa and from there to Australia or New Zealand. Western Samoa is cheaper than Fiji and has a couple of good hotels. Western Samoa is also a quick hop (about 100 miles) from American Samoa, which is part of the U.S.A. American Samoa is totally off the map for tourists. The hotels stink there but there's a good national park.
Sounds like a more realistic than redemption on Air New Zealand... Maybe one day, Air NZ will have a J award on IAH-AKL flight *sigh*
Did redemptions on Fiji in business class recently dry up on Alaska? There are no business class redmptions available at all. There is no reward space available after Deccember 6th.
@dqdude, I found the same thing. Looking for 2 seats in business class. There are literally only 2 days available in the next 11 months...
Business class is back... Grabbed two seats sea-syd for early February. No stopover. Will boom return flight when the schedule opens up with a stop in nadi