In March 2022, it was announced that Air Tahiti Nui would launch flights to Seattle, and that the airline would also introduce a partnership with Alaska Airlines. Up until this point the airlines have only offered reciprocal mileage earning opportunities, but reciprocal mileage redemptions are now live as well. They’re a surprisingly good value!
In this post:
What are Mileage Plan redemption rates on Air Tahiti Nui like?
Alaska Airlines has published award charts for travel on Air Tahiti Nui. These awards are bookable directly on alaskaair.com, and there are no carrier imposed surcharges. As usual with Alaska Mileage Plan, only redemptions in certain regions are permitted.
Here are the Alaska Mileage Plan saver level one-way award costs for travel on Air Tahiti Nui in eligible regions:
- North America to Tahiti costs 30,000 miles in economy, 45,000 miles in premium economy, 60,000 miles in business class
- North America to New Zealand costs 40,000 miles in economy, 60,000 miles in premium economy, 80,000 miles in business class
- North America to Europe costs 30,000 miles in economy, 45,000 miles in premium economy, 60,000 miles in business class
- North America to Asia costs 60,000 miles in economy, 90,000 miles in premium economy, 120,000 miles in business class
- Tahiti to Asia costs 35,000 miles in economy, 50,000 miles in premium economy, 70,000 miles in business class
- Tahiti to Europe costs 60,000 miles in economy, 90,000 miles in premium economy, 120,000 miles in business class
- Tahiti to New Zealand costs 17,500 miles in economy, 25,000 miles in premium economy, 35,000 miles in business class
Note that stopovers are allowed at Fa’a’ā International Airport (PPT) in Tahiti at no extra cost. For example, this means you could book Air Tahiti Nui from Los Angeles to Auckland via Tahiti. Read my review of Air Tahiti Nui’s 787 business class here.
My take on Air Tahiti Nui redemptions through Mileage Plan
With Alaska Airlines having joined the oneworld alliance, we’ve seen the airline add several new partner airline redemptions since last year. Historically there have been many great uses of Alaska Mileage Plan miles, though unfortunately many of the partners we’ve seen added in recent months offer decent to terrible value (just take a look at Malaysia Airlines redemption rates), rather than great value.
In that sense, these Air Tahiti Nui redemption rates are extremely good, and something to be excited about. A few things stand out:
- American AAdvantage charges 80,000 miles for a one-way business class award between the United States and Tahiti, while Alaska Mileage Plan charges just 60,000 miles
- American AAdvantage charges 65,000 miles for a one-way business class award between the United States and Tahiti, while Alaska Mileage Plan charges 45,000 miles
- American AAdvantage charges 40,000 miles for a one-way economy class award between the United States and Tahiti, while Alaska Mileage Plan charges just 30,000 miles
- Not only is the pricing better, but Alaska Mileage Plan allows a free stopover, while American AAdvantage doesn’t
So this is a really exciting new redemption opportunity with Alaska Mileage Plan. The only catch is that award availability on Air Tahiti Nui can be quite tough to come by.
Bottom line
It’s now possible to redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles for travel on Air Tahiti Nui, and redemption rates are a pleasant surprise. You can book business class one-way between the United States and Tahiti for just 60,000 miles, which is awesome.
What do make of Alaska’s redemption rates on Air Tahiti Nui?
I can't find alaskaair miles offer on a PDX-CDG on Air Thahi Nui; how come? i used to fly this route using Alaska miles
Can we use Alaska airlines companion fare to book flights on air Tahiti? tried to check out this way and looked like it doesn't work.
Ive flown them several times in business and they were surprisingly good - friendly crew and comfortable seats and pretty decent food and wine
Seattle to AKL with a stop in PPT is charged as 80k miles and not 60k.
American does allow Premium Economy redemptions! They are 65k miles - more expensive, but it works. Alaska is also not displaying complete data. For example there are premium economy rewards available on TN101 on July 5th that show up on AA's site, but not Alaska's.
"American AAdvantage doesn’t even allow premium economy redemptions, while Alaska Mileage Plan does"
Just last month I booked two PE seats using AA miles on Air Tahiti Nui for 40K each for LAX-CDG. There was actually a decent amount of availability at the time.
US to New Zealand is pricing out at 80k for business, not 60k, whether you go one-way or build in a stopover.
Was just going to note that. Still a great deal, but not the crazy good deal I was expecting after seeing this post.
Just booked SEA-PPT-AKL with a 5 day stopover in PPT for March in Biz for 80K miles. Looks reasonable.
Regis, Just booked the same, 80K and $55.30. Feels like a good redemtion to me.
A bit tough getting a short layover at PPT though. Many of the layovers are 2-3 days, Seattle to AKL. In March, for example, all SEA -PPT-AKL layovers are 2 full days + an extra night. So building in the stopover on the front end was best. However Feb 26 SEA-PPT connects the next morning with PPT-AKL.
This appears to be shown on the Alaska Award chart as being "Starting at 60,000" for business class. It also shows similar for economy and premium economy. I don't see this "Starting at" language on the other partners like Fiji or Qantas, those are just a flat set of miles.
My guess is that it'll allow AS for "flex" inventory similar to Qatar and Aer Lingus with much higher redemption rates at some point in the future
What about going to CDG?
AS award chart does show TN for US-Europe (starting at 60K for biz) but at the moment doesn't seem to populate during search
It does, try LAX - CDG for 4/12/23. There is a business class ticket nonstop showing up at 60k plus $19. Seems like a great option compared to BA with the surcharges.