I don't know anything about points/miles etc. I can also take a slightly uncomfortable flight from LAX to Papeete, though Air Tahiti Nui has improved enormously in recent years. The little inter-island flights to Bora Bora and elsewhere in FP are well-organised, though there are luggage restrictions, which doesn't bother me at all.

The political situation in the Maldives is not good though that wouldn't necessarily deter me from going there. It's the indifference to the environment that really bothers me - house reefs are being destroyed by hotel construction and the rush to build resorts on seemingly every island undermines the local community, creates resentment and radicalisation, and is completely unsustainable. A recent documentary on BBC showed how several islands have now become vast smouldering landfill sites. This is also visible on Bora Bora but hotel development virtually ceased about ten years ago and while the rows of OWBs on one side of the island is unsightly it's probably sustainable at that level of density.

Oh, about that Laucala place in Fiji. I remember Macmyday and KatW's recent reports . . . isn't the beach rubbish?