Thought I would post a trip report from my just completed “vacation in paradise” which covered Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora. Wanted to pass on some details about traveling Air Tahiti Nui, which is not one of the airlines you see regularly on FlyerTalk. Trip was award travel in Business Class, JFK-LAX-PPT-LAX-JFK on AA/TN (100k miles each).

AA33 JFK-LAX

Not much to say here that hasn’t already been written up multiple times on this standard AA transcon in business, only to say that once you’ve flown it on the 763, it’s hard to go back to the 762.

TN01 JFK-PPT

Check-in: Check-in was in the central section of the Bradley terminal with a separate line for Club Poerava (Business) and Poerava First passengers (nice as the Moana – or Economy Class – line was quite long). Friendly and efficient check-in. Interestingly check-in required an awful lot of typing on a keyboard. This was followed by the filling out of little slips of paper for the interline baggage from AA (interestingly enough this was very low tech and included the use of little ripped pieces of carbon paper). An invitation to the lounge was issued.

Lounge: TN shares usage of the BA/QF Business Class lounge at LAX. It was adequate. Lots of people (including me) have complained here in the past about the quality of the LAX lounges. The only good part is that at this time of day (flight leaves at 1pm) the lounge only has TN passengers in it so is relatively empty. Very tasty ham and cheese croissants though!

On-board: Have to admit that I boarded the plane with very low expectations and was extremely pleasantly surprised. The cabin had a very light and spacious feel with six rows of 2x2x2 seats. Space between rows was very nice and it was one of those “can’t reach the seat pocket in front without unbelting and moving and really stretching” situations. Seats are done in a bright red fabric with bright yellow headrests with a hibiscus pattern, very island feel especially when combined with the Tahitian music playing on the PA and the Gaugin print at the front of the cabin. Immediately greeted by FA’s and, once settled, offered the choice of Champagne, Orange Juice or a Mai Tai. Take the Mai Tai, delicious and gets you in the mood as they are QUITE strong. Menus and amenity kits were handed out (kits were small folding pouches with a magnetic clasp filled with the standard eyeshades, socks and Rochas amenities). FA’s came through with a trolley with the latest LA papers and English and French magazines. One nice touch, right before takeoff the FA’s pass through the cabin and hand out Tiare flowers, which are the symbol of the airline (it’s on the tail), are all over the islands and have a strong but very nice gardenia smell. Seats were quite comfortable and met with the standards of any major international airline with electronic controls for seat back, leg rest and lumbar support (both inflate/deflate and up and down). What made the seat quite comfortable was the footrest at the bottom, which once you learned the trick, actually kept folding out and eventually became flat making the legrest even longer. I am a fairly big guy and was quite comfortable. I don’t know exactly but would guess that the seat backs went back at least 70-80 degrees, ie not quite but almost flat. Very large video screen with about 5-6 movies, 9 audio channels and a number of games (including some you could play against other passengers). One tip on seating, don’t go for the first row seats on the sides, they have limited foot space compared to the other rows, middle seats are fine though. Announcements were made in Tahitian, French and English.

Food/Drink: Sorry that I don’t have enough detail here, but I failed to take the menus with me. Service began shortly after take-off with an amouse bouche consisting of little puff pastries along with the wine, champagne and drinks selection (go for the Hinano, the local Tahitian beer). Dinner was then served with FA’s taking everything off of the little plastic trays and setting the table with linens (plastic knife, metal everything else). Appetizers were pre-plated and was a choice of shrimp with cocktail sauce or scallops with a Korean BBQ sauce. Bread was served warm from a basket. Main course was served from the trolley and you could mix and match as desired. I remember Filet in a Madeira Sauce, Chicken Wellington and something else (sorry) along with potatoes, broccoli and tomatoes provencale. Desert was also served from the trolley and included fresh fruit, cookies, a few different sorbets and small tarts. This was eventually followed about 2 hours out of Papeete with a preplated snack which, while with linen, was served with the tray. Wines were all French as was the Champagne and FA’s were generous with serving them coming around multiple times with drinks and the bread basket.

TN22 PPT-LAX

I won’t cover the onboard stuff as we were on the same plane as previously, the Bora Bora. As an aside I understand that come Spring all TN’s planes will be reconfigured with First Class which will be one row of 6 seats. Neither of our flights had it so I can’t comment. As an aside economy class looked quite tight, with the interesting fact that the center seats of the 2x4x2 configuration had separate armrests rather than sharing a single one.

Check-in: Again, there was a separate check-in for Business and First which was WELL appreciated in the hot and humid un-air conditioned FAA’a International airport. Again, quick and efficient with luggage checked straight through to NY. The flight this evening was going on to CDG after LAX. Lounge invitation again issued.

Lounge: This is actually an Air New Zealand lounge (also used by Air France) but as the departure times for flights is radically different only TN passengers were there at the time. This lounge is small but VERY well appreciated as it is air conditioned. The best way to describe it in feel is for some reason it felt like one of BA’s smaller foreign lounges in the old style. Same feel as the LAX lounge. Nice selection of cheese and crackers, drinks, etc. Not a surprise for Tahiti, but the most recent US papers were 2 days old, French papers were 3 days old and the NZ papers were 5 days old!

Overall, we were extremely well pleased with Air Tahiti Nui and would recommend them in Business Class without reservation and they can hold their own with any international airline (that doesn’t have flat beds in J). Coach looked a little tight. We had a wonderful time in Tahiti covering Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora and I will try and follow up with a trip report about the resorts we stayed in, especially as we stayed at the Bora Bora Nui, which has been the subject of a great deal of talk over in the Starwood board given a rate mix up they had there.