cardigans1
Sep 26, 06, 11:37 pm
just returned from a 9 night reward night trip (7 in Bora Bora, 2 in Papeete) that cost 270,000 PC points. We also redeemed 200,000 Delta Skymiles for the flight there.
Before I begin, I must give a HUGE thank you to Flyertalk and especially this forum who has enlightened me on the ways of HI and IC. This trip would not have been possible without your helpful posts.
I redeemed my RA referral voucher 1 1/2 weeks prior to trip.
Reserved a beach bungalow with points at the Le Moana in Bora Bora, tried to confirm over the water bungalow upgrade via email, was told I could pay for the upgrade (19 450 cfp + 11% tax per night from Beach bungalow to Overwater bungalow Lagoon or 32 050 cfp + 11% tax per night from beach bungalow to overwater bungalow horizon.)
Decided to take my chances, when we arrived in Bora Bora, we were greeted at airport, took the boat transfer to the Le Moana, was greeted by an employee at the dock, taken directly to the bar area where we were served two fresh fruit drinks. Filled out the paperwork and then asked the employee if it was possible to get an upgrade to an OTW bungalow. He said that we had indeed already been upgraded - as it turned out, not just an OTW, but an OTW horizon.
The room was fantastic with air conditioning, DVD player, 2 TVs, a private dock, sitting area outside, large room seperate from large bedroom with large bathroom. The staff at Le Moana was absolutely spectacular. After 1-2 days, they knew us by name and by room number.
We loved the proximity of the property to restaurants, shops, and supermarket outside the IC property. Also the Matira beach being right outside the property was great as well.
Over the time we stayed there, we were given a tshirt, a pareo, some champagne (even though we don't drink alcohol), a red cinch sack bag with Le Moana on it, a voucher for 2 free drinks at the bar, and a pineapple fruit treat in a coconut.
The minibar had Sprite, Coke, chips, Kit Kat, tonic, beer, vodka, and bottled water in it and was continually kept stocked. Not all of the staff was aware that RAs received free minibar - however, the front desk supervisor informed them of this information and it was no problem from that point on.
The boat transfer back to the airport was a bit stressful, we were told to be at dock at 7:30 am, the boat didn't show until 8:15 am (our flight was at 9) - luckily we made it in time and the flight was even delayed 30 minutes.
After that we had 2 nights in Papeete - we were given a Garden Room with ocean view, were given fruit drinks upon arrival, and they gave us a gift of a pareo, and a fresh fruit plate and mineral water.
Something we did stumble upon was a brochure in French at the front desk in Papeete that listed the different PC / IC levels (including stay 50 nights in 3 different hotels to get RA status) - but then gave specific Tahiti additional RA benefits including
- (In French) Minimum de 50% de reduction sur le tarif de votre chambre (tarif public en vigeuer)
- 25% off vehicle rental from Europcar (reservation par notre intermediaire (not sure what that means))
- 10% off restaurants (excluding special events)
- 15 minutes free Internet per day in Business Center
- 10% off take away laundry
- 20% off water activites (then it says chez "Aquatica" hors jet ski)
Specific French Polynesia additional benefits are (sorry I can't translate)
- Des reductions de 30 a 50% sur le tarif de votre chambre (tarif public en viguer)
- 50% de reduction sur votre tarif pour les arrives matinales
- Depart tardif sans supplement jusqu'a 18h, selon disponibilite
- 20% de reduction sur vos appels telephoniques et envois de telecopies
- 20% de reduction sur les soins SPA a Moorea
we can scan the brochure we found and we don't speak French so hopefully our translation is on - and Bora Bora didn't have this brochure.
At checkout in Papeete, they took breakfast for 2 people off our bill.
As a side note, we did take the boat to the Thalasso property as well. It's huge, brand new - but, it's a bit isolated from anything else in Bora Bora and the foliage hasn't quite had a chance to grown in - don't get me wrong, it's definetly a top class property - but I'm glad we ended up at the Le Moana rather than the Thalasso. The Thalasso OTW bungalows looked huge.
Overall, it was the best value for point redemption that we could have imagined.
Before I begin, I must give a HUGE thank you to Flyertalk and especially this forum who has enlightened me on the ways of HI and IC. This trip would not have been possible without your helpful posts.
I redeemed my RA referral voucher 1 1/2 weeks prior to trip.
Reserved a beach bungalow with points at the Le Moana in Bora Bora, tried to confirm over the water bungalow upgrade via email, was told I could pay for the upgrade (19 450 cfp + 11% tax per night from Beach bungalow to Overwater bungalow Lagoon or 32 050 cfp + 11% tax per night from beach bungalow to overwater bungalow horizon.)
Decided to take my chances, when we arrived in Bora Bora, we were greeted at airport, took the boat transfer to the Le Moana, was greeted by an employee at the dock, taken directly to the bar area where we were served two fresh fruit drinks. Filled out the paperwork and then asked the employee if it was possible to get an upgrade to an OTW bungalow. He said that we had indeed already been upgraded - as it turned out, not just an OTW, but an OTW horizon.
The room was fantastic with air conditioning, DVD player, 2 TVs, a private dock, sitting area outside, large room seperate from large bedroom with large bathroom. The staff at Le Moana was absolutely spectacular. After 1-2 days, they knew us by name and by room number.
We loved the proximity of the property to restaurants, shops, and supermarket outside the IC property. Also the Matira beach being right outside the property was great as well.
Over the time we stayed there, we were given a tshirt, a pareo, some champagne (even though we don't drink alcohol), a red cinch sack bag with Le Moana on it, a voucher for 2 free drinks at the bar, and a pineapple fruit treat in a coconut.
The minibar had Sprite, Coke, chips, Kit Kat, tonic, beer, vodka, and bottled water in it and was continually kept stocked. Not all of the staff was aware that RAs received free minibar - however, the front desk supervisor informed them of this information and it was no problem from that point on.
The boat transfer back to the airport was a bit stressful, we were told to be at dock at 7:30 am, the boat didn't show until 8:15 am (our flight was at 9) - luckily we made it in time and the flight was even delayed 30 minutes.
After that we had 2 nights in Papeete - we were given a Garden Room with ocean view, were given fruit drinks upon arrival, and they gave us a gift of a pareo, and a fresh fruit plate and mineral water.
Something we did stumble upon was a brochure in French at the front desk in Papeete that listed the different PC / IC levels (including stay 50 nights in 3 different hotels to get RA status) - but then gave specific Tahiti additional RA benefits including
- (In French) Minimum de 50% de reduction sur le tarif de votre chambre (tarif public en vigeuer)
- 25% off vehicle rental from Europcar (reservation par notre intermediaire (not sure what that means))
- 10% off restaurants (excluding special events)
- 15 minutes free Internet per day in Business Center
- 10% off take away laundry
- 20% off water activites (then it says chez "Aquatica" hors jet ski)
Specific French Polynesia additional benefits are (sorry I can't translate)
- Des reductions de 30 a 50% sur le tarif de votre chambre (tarif public en viguer)
- 50% de reduction sur votre tarif pour les arrives matinales
- Depart tardif sans supplement jusqu'a 18h, selon disponibilite
- 20% de reduction sur vos appels telephoniques et envois de telecopies
- 20% de reduction sur les soins SPA a Moorea
we can scan the brochure we found and we don't speak French so hopefully our translation is on - and Bora Bora didn't have this brochure.
At checkout in Papeete, they took breakfast for 2 people off our bill.
As a side note, we did take the boat to the Thalasso property as well. It's huge, brand new - but, it's a bit isolated from anything else in Bora Bora and the foliage hasn't quite had a chance to grown in - don't get me wrong, it's definetly a top class property - but I'm glad we ended up at the Le Moana rather than the Thalasso. The Thalasso OTW bungalows looked huge.
Overall, it was the best value for point redemption that we could have imagined.