chrishow

Hi,

I'm traveling from LAX-PPT-BOB for my honeymoon in September and I'm trying to decide whether to fly with Air France or Air Tahiti Nui.

I will be booking business class and the costs is approximately the same. Air France has quite unsociable flight times, with a 4am landing into PPT and a 7am departure. With these flight times, I would need to overnight in Tahiti on the return as well as on the way out.

Air Tahiti Nui has better flight times, but the product looks very dated. For the money that it will cost, I wanted to experience a decent service and at least earn some FF miles with an airline what I am likely to fly with again.

Does anyone have any experience of flying this route or either airline? Which of the AF business class seats are used on this route?

Any suggestions greatly received.

Many thanks in advance.

Chris

newK2

I flew AF in business class in March from LAX-PPT and back and thought the service was quite good. Much of the crew was based in Polynesia and they were attentive without being overbearing. I had not previously flown a business class with the tilted flat bed and was a little concerned but I slept rather well on the way down and since there is a footrest at the end you don't slide off. The food was business class pleasant, I had scallops for the main, smallish portion but it's a late flight so that didn't bother me. The lounge at LAX isn't much but they had some Nicolas Fuillat (not sure of the spelling) champagne which I thought was very drinkable.

Lounge in PPT is shared, it's the only one in the airport - no champagne out for the morning departure on the day I flew (though as Star Gold using this lounge for an evening AKL departure there was champagne on offer). Not much in the way of food. Flight up to LAX was very pleasant, again a great crew. I had the duck main course and it was a bit overcooked but overall the meal was again of solid business class quality - I asked for another sherbet later in the flight and since they were out the purser brought me a slice of wonderful strawberry mousse pie from the F cabin

All in all a pleasant experience, and compared to an AF flight from LHR-LAX when they were flying that, in F, it was better!

markbanshee

I did the same trip for our honeymoon 2 years ago...I went with AF because I got to take advantage of the AMEX Plat 2for1 first class ticket deal. The food was not as good as I was hoping, though the drinks certainly keep flowing if you want to. That early arrival was very odd, but we went right over to the smaller terminal and waited a couple of hours for a small plane to Moorea. At that time in the morning there is not much to do at the airport and nothing within walking distance, you can also take the high speed ferry over to Moorea if you want to go there. Sorry I cannot really add more, but once the sun comes up on the day you land, you will be blown away by the beauty and not really care how the flight was! Enjoy. (Oh, did go to the AF lounge, good coffee and croissants there, but not terribly comfortable).

brunos

You provided the answer in your own question.
AF has an outdated product (lie-flat reclining 170°) with average unpredictable service (can be good, can be bad).
Air Tahiti has an antique product (cradle seats reclining 150°) with average service, poor video. When they started, service was quite good and enthusiastic; I heard that it went down.
If comfort is important to you, and unless the price differential justifies it (TN often offers special deals thru selected TAs), then go AF.
But conveninece of connecting flights is also a factor. So you have all the elements. Losing two overnights might be much more important than slightly better comfort.

Mokshu

...and Air Tahiti Nui was able to take off from CDG today :P

TrueBlueFlyer

how are Air Tahiti and Aer Lingus flying when the rest of the "air space" is shut down for the majors? (according to the news)

chrissxb

dgac/atc allowed a few takeoffs for relocating airplanes and getting some pax out. very limited though. but that's completely off topic for this thread, isn't it ?

TrueBlueFlyer

according to Euronews 17,000 flights have been cancelled, where normally 28,000 flights operate on a normal day... so besides Air Tahiti 11,000 other flights took off... obviously not all of them in Britain/France/Sweden and other affected areas, but still, a lot of flights did take off it seems not just some

tomas.t

I flew AF LAX-PPT in Businessclass and was pleased with the friendly + service oriented Tahiti based crew, as well as the cleanliness of the 777. The attention to service was appreciated and the food was quite good. I enjoyed the white Burgundy pairing and various cheese plates. Upon arrival, we booked a room with a day rate the nearby Sofitel Maeva, so asleep by 5am and up by 10am for breakfast then after relaxing poolside, made our way for an afternoon departure to Moorea. I would not hesitate again to fly AF again on this route.

manureva744

Ia Orana !

I am an AF purser based in Papeete and it is a little too easy for me to convince you to travel on Air France to Papeete.

We have a modern fleet of 777-200ER on the route, with better IFE that includes 85 movies, 200 CDs, 15 games and language learning programs. The seats are lie-flat and of a newer generation than the Air Tahiti Nui seats.

All Cabin Crew on the LAX-PPT-LAX flights are based in Tahiti and we have the best customer satisfaction scores of the airline. The female cabin attendants change into a tahitian dress after take off and you are allready in Tahiti (this uniform dress was inherited from UTA after the merger, UTA inheriting it from TAI. It was not taken from Air Tahiti Nui as they came years after AF merged with UTA)

Meals are good starting with an aperitif served with an amuse bouche and fauchon nibbles. Following is the gourmand starter offering 2 to 3 different dishes in one plate. You will then savour 1 of the 4 hot dishes including a vegeterian dish, a fish one, poultry one and a meat one. A traditional french meal follows with cheese ; you will be offered a mini plate with a selection of 2 cheeses. Dessert is either the trio of patisseries, sorbets or fresh fruits. You can finish your meal with a liqueur and a tea from Fauchon, coffee or enjoy an espresso at the bar in the middle of the Business Class cabin. Before arrival in Tahiti you will be served a hot or a continental breakfast. Before arrival in Los Angeles you will enjoy a cold snack consisting of fresh fruit, sandwiches, pastries.

During the flight drinks are available either at your seat on request or at the bars.

You will be able to make duty free purchases from the Boutique de Paris during your flight.

Lounges are available at Los Angeles at T2. It is not yet refurbished as AF just took over the NWA lounge. The ADT lounge in PPT is owned by the Aeroport de Tahiti corp and rents it to all airlines operating at PPT. It has an excellent view over the apron.

Hope it helps,

manureva744

albireo

Hello Manureva,

I've heard off-and-on plans for AF to develop its own real lounge at LAX. The current one (ex-NWA) is often too small and far from international standards.

Do you have more specific information on this you can share ?

milehighclubnz

OK I am pretty biased, but if the OP is not tight on time they can fly NZ LAX-AKL-PPT. Fully 180 degrees decline for LAX-AKL and the leather seats for AKL-PPT are fine.

The only catch apart from additional time between AKL-PPT is the connection between PPT and Bora Bora - but for a honeymoon I'll fly in the most comfy seat/bed. Plus the OP might want to check out New Zealand on the way!

manureva744

Ia Orana !

We were also told that AF would refurbish the LAX lounge to it's own style. There was also a plan to increase it by building above the atrium between Wolfgang Puck and Route 66 but I think that has gone down the drain... I will go fish some info with my ground staff friends at LAX T2 !

f4free

Hello manureva ...

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm, it's great to see an AF employee believe in their product that much. Since service is for me even more important than the hard product, I feel encouraged to try this route one day soon.

It's good to have you on Flyertalk. Please don't take it personally should some posters occasionally respond with a bit of cynism or criticism to posts of yours - we all welcome your presence and shared inisights, but most of us have been disappointed by AF or Flying Blue in the past. Welcome,


f4free

toulousebloke

Apart from a carbon footprint to be ashamed of , that would be a horribly long trip - although I have already flown LHR-LAX-AKL-SYD in one go on NZ J. I just wanted get there and promised myself never to do it again!!!
I fly home LHR-CDG-LAX-PPT in J once a year on AF - it simply makes more sense in terms of FF miles as you can bank the Skyteam miles. Service is very good too, aircraft modern. Fly F if you can afford it now that it have got rid of the 2-class A340s on LAX-PPT - once got upgraded from J to F on CDG-LAX B777-300 and it was a wonderful exclusive experience, with a personal welcome from the captain!