JRV62

One more thing, if you decide to go to BOB its going to cost1k for 2 of you to get there, no award tickets available but you can use the arrival card to offset it.

ChicagoDave

Here is a great thread about this exact topic:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...polynesia.html

And another link to start your research:
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2012/0...tion-planning/

My wife and I did this for our honeymoon last year. We used Expert Flyer to find AA award availability on TN. Availability was sparse in Y, and even less in J, but we found tickets. Through reading this thread J on TN didn't seem like a great product so we stuck with Y. One more tip with the flights is search from LAX-PPT & PPT-LAX. Getting from ORD-LAX was extremely challenging, but we were able to modify that portion after booking the ticket.

JRF62 is correct about not being able to redeem miles for the flights to BOB. You can also look at the InterIsland Air Pass depending on

If you are going to stay at an IC, I'd recommend signing up for the IHG card for both your wife and yourself. On your 1st anniversary you get a free night at any hotel including the IC in BOB. The 80k points also helped. We also signed up for the ambassador to use the BOGO and the confirmed room upgrade. When combined with the free nights we were upgraded our entire stay even though we only paid for 1 night. Only downside of IC is the snorkeling wasn't that great compared to Hilton.

Congratulations

flyermich

Thanks for the tip. Newbie question, what do Y and J mean? I tried various ways of googling it (I assume it means something like Anytime vs Saver points) but couldnt find a good answer.

jadecocoa

Y = economy; J = business; F = first class

SteamyUncle

Y is the most flexible economy booking class, and sometimes refers to economy class in general - it is the case here. J(or more often C, usually most flexible) are two classic business booking classes, and can refer to business class in general.

flightmedic

We've been to Fiji once for 2 weeks and Tahiti 3 times (number 4 in June).

For Tahiti you can use your AA miles on Air Tahiti Nui but you need to check expert flyer for availability. It looks like they only release 2 business and 6 economy award seats each flight so look 331 days in advance. We have business from JFK-LAX and then business from LAX-PPT for June. Having some flexibility in dates is easier and I would book the outbound as soon as it opens and then hope a return is available when you want it.

You can also fly on Hawaiian out of HNL to PPT but they only have 1 flight a week on Saturday and it looks like they only release 1 business class seat per flight.

To fly between the islands you need to fly Air Tahiti (not the same airline as the international airline Air Tahiti Nui). Air Tahiti is not part of any alliance which means you have to pay for the flights. They do have an airpass that allows you to visit multiple islands. This is about $500 per person. There are specific rules on direction of travel and backtracking that you need to look at.

For our Tahiti trips we have combined a land portion with a Paul Gauguin cruise. The PG is a 5 star 330 passenger ship which is spectacular. All inclusive including alcohol and tips. If you book with them you can elect to to use their included air from LAX. For my June cruise they gave us back $1600 per person for not using their air and transfers. If you go this route feel free to PM me for additional information. We have paired the cruise with a land stay on Moorea at the Hilton in an overwater bungalow. Award points for the standard room, one upgrade due to HHonors gold and a paid upgrade to the overwater unit. Only $30 roundtrip ferry (30 minutes) from Tahiti. Spectacular.

If you go to Fiji look at Matangi Island. A little tough to get to but spectacular. Combine something like that with some time in the Yasawa Islands, presuming you have the time.

One of our cruises did stop in the Cook Islands. The lagoon in Aitutaki is amazing but you really need to get out on a boat to see the lagoon and snorkel. A land based vacation there is probably very nice but I would investigate the options to snorkel, etc. if you didn't want to pay for an excursion every day.

flyermich

It's hard for me to imagine booking the honeymoon ~330 days in advance. Is this my only option, or does it just mean I'll have a worse redemption value on points by booking later?

dukerau

It seems like you have UR and everyone in this thread is talking about using AA miles. Because AA partners with TN and FJ, they are the best miles to use for what you're looking for. But if you only have UR, that doesn't help you. With UR, your best bet (I believe) will be transferring to United and flying on NZ via Auckland. Getting premium class award seats on NZ is nearly impossible with miles, so you'd most likely be in economy. Booking 330 days out is wise as with miles, availability is limited. Using United miles to fly on NZ, the best case is 70K round trip, but if you can't get that you might get Standard awards for 150K round trip. Or there could be nothing. Booking early if Saver is available is wise.

If you had AA miles, you might could get 2 business seats on TN to Tahiti or on FJ to Fiji. But there are usually only 2 business award seats on each TN flight LAX-PPT, so you'd need to grab them. But you'd also need 125K AA miles each direction for 2 business seats. Of course, TN and FJ business classes are not high end. Angled flat seats, etc.

Thunderroad

All sorts of good advice here already. I'd just add:

1. I believe that late 2015 will be in the rainy season in French Polynesia. I don't know about Fiji. You might look into what the rainy season is like in these places. If just brief afternoon downpours, no problem. If you run the risk of days of rain, that would be a drag.
2. The special charm of FP is the over-the-water villas/bungalows (OWBs), which might require paying a substantial extra amount on top of whatever room you'd get on points. I'd suggest looking into how much this could cost you at various properties you might consider.
3. The Maldives also has OWBs and late 2015 is the dry season there. It can be a pain to get to, plus you have to pay extra flying from the capital to most islands, plus like FP you'd likely pay a good sum to upgrade from a regular room to an OWB. But it's an incredible place.
4. As someone already suggested, if you run into problems with arranging an FP or Fiji trip or simply want to consider other options, Thailand is a great destination (though not for OWBs) and using your AA miles for F on Cathay Pacific would be an incredible way to get there. (Cathay J is also great, but F would be a magical way to start and end your honeymoon.) Best to try to book 331 days in advance, but Cathay F seats do open up sporadically. Paying fairly modest membership fees as sites such as awardnexus.com will let you register for email alerts for when such seats open up.

Hope it all works out!

flyermich

Thanks for all that info. The OWBs are specifically what we (or rather, the fiancee ) are after in the honeymoon destination.

KennyBSAT

Especially if you want the IC Thalesso (where an OWB is a standard room not a $300+ upgrade) on points you need to book way ahead, before you even know whether you can get seats. You can always cancel the hotel booking. I checked room availability there for a blog post last week and found two 3-night periods with available reward nights, 9 2-night periods and zero cases of 4 or more consecutive available nights. Over the next 11.5 months.

flyertalker00156

just to throw something in. I prefer Moorea to Bora Bora...I find it less plastically and more original....others will disagree

flightmedic

Specific to the 330 day out for booking. Get a free (5 day) trial from expertflyer and put in dates on Air Tahiti Nui. That will give you an idea of what is available. From what I have seen the likelihood of getting the only 2 business award seats that they release on each flight is slim to none if you don't do it very close to when they are released. You can always make the booking and cancel if you have to. AA will charge you, I think, $125 for the first person and $25 for anyone else on your booking to get the miles back.

Since you would probably have 2 reservations (made the outbound at 330 days and the return a week or 2 later when they are released) this could cost you about $300 to cancel.

I didn't notice the time of year you are traveling but I would not go to Fiji during their rainy/cyclone season. Our cruise from Australia to Tahiti in January of 2012 hit 2 cyclones and it was nasty. I know someone who went in December to Matangi Island on Fiji and they said it poured all day every day. Obviously YMMV.

I suggest you also look at cruise critic under the Paul Gauguin. Even if you don't want a cruise this board is very active (as is the Trip Advisor Board) and you can get lots of great information on excursions, weather, etc.