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AA Miles Award: TN / Air Tahiti Nui award redemptions (master thread)

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Old Jan 2, 2013, 4:02 am
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Last edit by: Prospero
Air Tahiti Nui (TN) is a non-oneworld airline partner of AA. AAdvantage members may use AA miles for awards on TN; members earn miles on TN only if flying TN as an AA marketed / codeshare. AA and TN have expanded codesharing to include CDG, AKL. It is also possible to earn AA miles flying as a Qantas codeshare due to an exclusion from the normal oneworld rule of earning on a oneworld codeshare only if operated by another oneworld airline.

You can now search for TN award availability on aa.com. But you may have to call AA due to some aa.com anomalous behavior. You may also use tools such as ExpertFlyer to find availability, or use Qantas as described in The High Life here.

NOTE: Air Tahiti Nui is “skipping” the USA with the exception of 4-5 flights weekly as of mid-March 2020 and initially through 7 April due to the novel Coronavirus and flying PPT-CDG without stopping at LAX. Link to TN travel policy page.

For AAdvantage awards, remember there must be an unconstructed fare offered by TN - as the most significant carrier - from one's origin - it may not be so likely you'll find an unconstructed fare from FAR or JAX to PPT, more likely from DFW. Otherwise, you may need to get yourself to an OK origin airport with a separate award or paid ticket.

Award classes you are looking for on TN (updated Dec 2017 by dkc192) are:
  • TN awards on AA need to have an "AP" or Another Partner award code.
  • NOTE: ]F is J award
  • U is Y award
  • Z has been J upgrade
  • There is no longer First Class on TN
  • Moana Premium Economy is not available as an award booking yet

See FleyeSkyHigh’s post #599

First, the basics. The should search for available inventory with the following criteria:

Promo Box- leave empty
Carrier Code Box- TN
Inventory Box- ADV

That's pretty much true for all award searches so if the rep didn't know how to find the carrier code of TN your best bet is going to be to HUCA. Assuming you get that far the next gotcha is the way the type of award code that is used. Often times the agent will simply search for a American or OneWorld award code. That will not work. They need to search using an "AP" award code which basically means "Another Partner Award Code."

...Air Tahiti Nui decided to change their business class award booking codes from I to F back in July of 2017. Much of AA's documentation has not been updated. I think they may have changed the letter codes of Economy awards also...they now come from bucket code U. It's helpful to remind the AA agents of the inventory code you are looking to book. I can tell you they are searching for I or U for business or X or T for economy they have not got the right "AP" award code for the search.

Lastly, I have found it helpful to ask them to go to their other screen and try a "direct access" search for the F or U award inventory directly with TN. This last step in my experience has set off the light bulb for most agents to get it done. I used to have a 10% success rate booking TN awards with AA but once I followed all the steps about I am at 80% plus (meaning I only have to HUCA 1 out of every 5 times).
See mercruiser's TN Business award booking process here.

NOTE: AA Agents may have difficulty finding the award space themselves, but:

See the aa.com page on award redemption charts, including the South Pacific, here. From March 22, 2016 on, here.

See post #1 for information on the TN 787 and illustrations, including seat chartand post #2 for information on the A340-343s retiring in 2019.

TN does not belong to any alliance at this time, though they do offer some codeshares and accept awards booked by a number of airlines (including AA). TN offers a "QF3826" PPT-AKL, but as pointed out by JonNYC elsewhere, though ExpertFlyer displays it as a prime flight, it's a codeshare operated by TN and not available for an award. (N.B. ExpertFlyer will show TN award seats accurately.)

Originally Posted by franzose
Since TN introduced 'seat à la carte' on 1 Sept 2019, you can do seat selection online under the condition your booking was ticketed. You need the TN reservation code (PNR):
  • Go to manage booking, enter your details (PNR - last name), open reservation
  • Go to manage booking, modify traveler details. ENTER CONTACT INFORMATION. THIS IS THE KEY TO BEING ABLE TO SEE SERVICES/SEAT SELECTION. Then select 'continue'.
  • Go to Additional Services with the meals sign
  • Go to the Seating and pick your seats (free for business, preference or extra comfort seats in Economy at a fee)
Only works on the regular website, not mobile.
”To request seat assignments, please contact our Air Tahiti Nui reservation office at least 72 hours prior to departure. However, we recommend requesting your seat assignments as soon as you confirm and ticket your reservations, so that more seat options will be available. Please be advised, exit and bulkhead rows can only be assigned at the airport.

Air Tahiti Nui aims to honor advance-seating requests. However, we cannot guarantee any particular seat even if the booking is confirmed. Air Tahiti Nui reserves the right to reassign seats at any time, even after boarding of the aircraft, for operational, safety or security reasons. Please accept our apologies if your preferred seat is not available at departure.”
- Exit and Bulkhead seats can only be assigned at the airport.

- On the A340 a Business seat or pair may be reserved for the pilot not flying.

- TN, 2019 (Note TN easily gives away predilect seats to “friends and family”, so if you lose your exit row or other favored seat don’t be surprised.)

You can not upgrade TN flights with AA miles, but they offer paid counter upgrades (availability based, Feb 2016 $1,000 Y to J, first come first served, so arrive early at check-in, and they may decline to upgrade paid codeshare flights). See http://borabora.airtahitinui-usa.com...es-charges.asp.

We don’t know if an upgrade from Moana Coach can be purchased to Premium Economy (on the 787-9) as yet.

Link to summary information about PPT Airport.

Link to Papeete Faa’a / PPT very useful page at SleepingInAirports.net.

Air Tahiti Nui was established on 31 October 1996 and commenced flight operations on 20 November 1998. The government of French Polynesia is the major shareholder (84.4%) along with other local investors. (Wikipedia)

Fleet

NOTE: TN began flying their Boeing 787-9 “Tahitian Dreamliner” (with GE engines, two purchased, two leased) LAX-PPT etc.18 November, 2018. See Air Tahiti Nui / TN to launch 787-9 Dreamliner 7 November 2018 for more information, including a link to the PDF seat chart. ALL five A340-343s will be replaced by four 787-9s by October 2019.
Boeing 787-9 “Tahitian Dreamliner “ (4 to be in fleet, all by October 2019) link to,TN 787-9 page.

These 787-9s have 30J - 32W - 232Y in a three class configuration . They also offer Panasonic Ku band internet connectivity via WiFi and eX3 IFE.

Boeing 787-9 “Tahitian Dreamliner” seating
C30 (Poerava Business) 2-2-2 Rockwell Collins (née B/E Aerospace) Parallel Diamond (similar to J in the AA A321T or J on QR 777-200LR)
W32 (Moana Premium) 2-3-2 Zodiac Aerospace Z535 Premium Economy class seats.
Y232 (Moana Economy) 3-3-3 in two cabins, with Zodiac Aerospace Z300 Economy class seats
for a total of 294 seats

See post #1 for a current 789 seat chart or SeatGuru here.
Seats in Poerava First are AB, DE, KL
Seats in Moana Premium are AB, DEF, KL
Seats in Moana Premium are ABC, DEF, JKL

“Woven together our fleet names have a hidden meaning: The warrior (TOA) going forward (MUA) in the great (NUI) canoe (VAA)!” The 787-9s will be / are:

F-OMUA “Fakarava”
F-ONUI “Tupaia “
F-OVAA “Bora Bora”
F-OTOA “Tetiaroa”
Airbus A340-343 (four of five remain in service 1/1/2019; the remainder will be phased out by October 2019)

Four A340s have undergone a CIP (Cabin Improvement Program), one (F-OJTN "Bora Bora") has, and will, not be refurbished. Though "Bora Bora" is more likely to be used on South Pacific - Asia flights, it still visits LAX periodically. Perhaps it will be the first A340 to be retired?

TN have eliminated Poerava First and only offer Poerava Business and Moana Economy classes on the A340, and have added Moana Premium (Premium Economy) on the 789. (See below.) A thread on selecting seats with AA awards and codeshares can be read here. The A340 Poerava Business seats are shell angled lie flat seats; Moana Economy seats presumably have 33” seat pitch, but feels tighter; bulkhead and exit row seating can only be assigned at airport check-in.

As seat charts are the same for all five A340s, it's difficult to know which configuration you will be on.

Link to seat chart.
Seat selection and On Line Check In:

At this time, online check-in and online seat selection are not available.

To request seat assignments, please contact our Air Tahiti Nui Reservations Office at least 72 hours prior to departure at (877) 824-4846. However, we recommend requesting your seat assignments as soon as you confirm and ticket your reservations, so that more seat options will be available. Please be advised, exit and bulkhead rows can only be assigned at the airport.

Air Tahiti Nui aims to honor advance-seating requests. However, we cannot guarantee any particular seat even if the booking is confirmed. Air Tahiti Nui reserves the right to reassign seats at any time, even after boarding of the aircraft, for operational, safety or security reasons. Please accept our apologies if your preferred seat is not available at departure.
But:

Originally Posted by UKdiver
Discovered today you can do it using Qatar's website, even if you don't have QR flights in the booking. You need the Amadeus locator code. [If you booked an award with AA, request the agent to give you TN's locator.]
Lounges

Only TN Poerava Business flyers get lounge access (AA codeshare flyers have been denied) TN are not oneworld, so oneworld status does not apply.

At AKL, NRT, and SYD TN use Qantas Business lounge.

At CDG, TN use the Cathay Pacific Business lounge.

At LAX, TN uses the 'International Lounge' in the Tom Bradley International Terminal for business passengers, shared with Air Fiji, El Al and Philippine Airlines; at other times, they will use the Korean Airlines lounge.

At PPT, TN offer their own Salon Manuhiri International lounge (also Diners, Airport Angel and Priority Pass may be used, though TN ticket counter employees may incorrectly tell you they don't accept those cards - in this writer's personal experience, they do.) airside, second floor via stairs or lift, open 150 minutes prior to departures.
Note: Flights within French Polynesia, e.g. to Bora Bora / BOB, are operated by Air Tahiti / VT (not oneworld nor AA partner) can be acquired with TYP, Barclays etc. travelcard points, but not with AA miles.

Other airline services to PPT include LA via SCL-IPC and AF. HA also offers once a week flights (Saturdays at this time) to PPT via HNL. AA flyers to SYD and AKL; this offers other award opportunities via AA and TN. LA flys SCL-IPC-PPT as well.

Websites: www.airtahitinui.com and www.airtahitinui-usa.com

nsuring Responsiveness to Our Customers’ Complaints

If a passenger has an unsatisfactory experience on one of our flights or while interacting with one of our employees, they may file a formal complaint to our Customer Relations Department. Every customer complaint will be read and acknowledged in writing within 30 days of our receipt of the complaint. If this initial communication does not fully address the concerns raised, we will send a substantive written response to the customer within 60 days.

Customer Relations can be reached immediately by clicking on the following link:
www.airtahitinui-usa.com/complaints

Or by calling 1(855) 835-9286

Or by writing through the U.S. Mail, and should be sent to:
Air Tahiti Nui - Customer Service
1970 E. Grand Ave, suite 100
El Segundo, CA 90245

Any written communication should contain the following information:
  • The name of the passenger concerned;
  • The ticket number;
  • The date and flight # concerning the complaint;[
  • If not a complaint onboard the aircraft, the date and location of the event; and
  • The nature of the event
A few French Polynesian words make your travel friendlier

Ia ora na - hello (EE-ah o-RAH-na

E - yes (eh)
Aita- no (EYE-tah)
Mauruuru - thank you (may-ooh-ROO-oo-roo)
Cheers - manuia (mon-oo-EE-ah)
Haere maru - take it easy (hah-EH-reh MAH-roo)
Nana- goodbye (NA-na)

Pronunciation:
Bora Bora - POra POra (yes, "B" is pronounced as "P")
Faa'a - faah ah
Papeete - pa-pay-EH-tay
N.B. French is the official language; speaking French is very useful in PF.
Link to Archive if 2014-2017 posts from this thread.
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AA Miles Award: TN / Air Tahiti Nui award redemptions (master thread)

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Old Sep 25, 2018, 8:55 pm
  #76  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: So Cal
Posts: 937
Quick data point:
Looked up on Expert Flyer LAX-PPT in August and found a day with the new 787 aircraft, showing 4 business(F) seats available. I called AA and they saw the availability no problem, with my only advice to check fare code F. I put two seats on hold and immediately refreshed my Expert Flyer search and it only showed 1 seat available. Not sure what happened to the remaining seat, since my initial search showed 4, and after securing 2 it only showed 1 available. It is likely that another seat was secured in the roughly 5 minutes between my two searches, but I doubt it. Thoughts?
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Old Sep 25, 2018, 10:51 pm
  #77  
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 222
Originally Posted by brodielayne
Not sure what happened to the remaining seat, since my initial search showed 4, and after securing 2 it only showed 1 available. It is likely that another seat was secured in the roughly 5 minutes between my two searches, but I doubt it. Thoughts?
Welcome to the world of dynamic airline inventory systems. Based on a number of factors the airline has an algorithm that constantly updates available inventory buckets (letter codes). Since TN also sells LAX-PPT-AKL as a through fare I imagine taking three F from the one leg triggered something that automatically reduced the remaining F inventory by 1.
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Old Oct 3, 2018, 9:12 am
  #78  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1
LAX-CDG not confirming though there's availability

After multiple HUCAs with AA, finally got someone who said they are aware that flights on TN from LAX to CDG between the dates of 4/25 and 7/8 are not confirming. They are aware of the problem, supposedly working on it, but have no expected resolution date. Said to try again in a few weeks, weeks! I'm guessing something to do with the change of planes. Also talked to TN directly, and they confirm the award space I see on EF is real.
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Old Oct 3, 2018, 12:12 pm
  #79  
Moderator: American AAdvantage
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Location: NorCal - SMF area
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Posts: 62,948
Originally Posted by elbulla
After multiple HUCAs with AA, finally got someone who said they are aware that flights on TN from LAX to CDG between the dates of 4/25 and 7/8 are not confirming. They are aware of the problem, supposedly working on it, but have no expected resolution date. Said to try again in a few weeks, weeks! I'm guessing something to do with the change of planes. Also talked to TN directly, and they confirm the award space I see on EF is real.
Hail Mary pass: call the Suva, Fiji contract office (call the AA Australia or New Zealand listed telephone number, but it’s really Mindpearl in Suva). If you’re persistent, and please post results (positive or negative) for other interested members.

AA Australia (+61 2-9101-1948 ) then press 3 - or the New Zealand number (+64 09-308-4014) (actually South African contractor Mindpearl) or Singapore (+65 6349-8444).
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Old Oct 3, 2018, 7:35 pm
  #80  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: So Cal
Posts: 937
Originally Posted by elbulla
After multiple HUCAs with AA, finally got someone who said they are aware that flights on TN from LAX to CDG between the dates of 4/25 and 7/8 are not confirming. They are aware of the problem, supposedly working on it, but have no expected resolution date. Said to try again in a few weeks, weeks! I'm guessing something to do with the change of planes. Also talked to TN directly, and they confirm the award space I see on EF is real.
Doubt the change of planes is the casual factor. LAX-PPT also had airframes swapped to 789's and I had no problem putting flights on hold last week as well as on Monday. A couple of months ago I had issues, even though EF showed availability, regardless of what call center I rang. Did you tell the agent to use fare code F for business class?
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Old Oct 18, 2018, 12:23 pm
  #81  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Malibu, CA
Programs: AA CK / Marriott Worthless Ambassador
Posts: 1,158
Ticketing

I booked 2 award tickets with CK line yesterday. Still no confirmation? Is this still an issue or it just takes time? Thanks. She assured me I was fine. But no miles deducted and no email.
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Old Oct 18, 2018, 1:08 pm
  #82  
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Posts: 62,948
Originally Posted by JBauer
I booked 2 award tickets with CK line yesterday. Still no confirmation? Is this still an issue or it just takes time? Thanks. She assured me I was fine. But no miles deducted and no email.
How far out are these? Often they’re out on request and have to be verified by the operating carrier; it can take a few days. See Ticket or Award status: On Hold, On Request, Pending, Purchased and Ticketed.
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Old Oct 18, 2018, 1:21 pm
  #83  
 
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Location: Malibu, CA
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Thanks for this. These are not until March of next year, but I was just worried after all the stuff I read.
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Old Oct 18, 2018, 8:57 pm
  #84  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: So Cal
Posts: 937
Originally Posted by JBauer
Thanks for this. These are not until March of next year, but I was just worried after all the stuff I read.
I ticketed two this week, miles came out next day and both show ticketed. Checked back in on my ticket, booked in my account, and it went back to "on request." I called and the agent figured it out after 5 minutes of hold. She mentioned something about it bouncing back due to a payment hangup. I should add that my wife's ticket was booked with her miles, so two different record locators. My dates are a few months after yours.
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Old Oct 25, 2018, 7:43 am
  #85  
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According to https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ameri...n-latam-qatar/

Air Tahiti Nui is now bookable online
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Old Oct 25, 2018, 8:14 am
  #86  
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Originally Posted by Carl Christensen
According to https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ameri...n-latam-qatar/

Air Tahiti Nui is now bookable online
However, all I see is economy award. Absolutely no bus/1st availability.
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Old Oct 25, 2018, 11:36 am
  #87  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 501
Business Class Availability

Originally Posted by flightmedic
It sure is tough. I’m happy with my 2 business to PPT but as of now nothing is available for the return and I have a 7 day window that I am interested in.

Gave up on the return and paid for Air France in premium economy. I was able to get a mile saver award from LAX to NYC through BOS.
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Old Oct 25, 2018, 6:07 pm
  #88  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: So Cal
Posts: 937
Originally Posted by flightmedic
Gave up on the return and paid for Air France in premium economy. I was able to get a mile saver award from LAX to NYC through BOS.
I am likely doing the exact same thing as I was able to secure 2 J seats on the way their, however nothing so far on the way back. Since it is a day time flight it should not be so bad, though I have read that Air France Premium economy seats are not that comfortable. Please post how the flight back was and the comfort factor of the seats.
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Old Oct 28, 2018, 8:43 am
  #89  
 
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Posts: 2,648
Originally Posted by ExpertFlyer Voice
ExpertFlyer is correctly showing the inventory that is being returned to us . As we've stated before, we show exactly what is shown via the global reservation systems, exactly what any travel agent would see. If you want to post a specific example for us to look at, we can post the output of the reservation system so you can see for yourself.
That's your standard response to every glitch. You have a great product when it works, but that's it.
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Old Oct 28, 2018, 3:50 pm
  #90  
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Join Date: Jan 2005
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Originally Posted by bostontraveler
That's your standard response to every glitch. You have a great product when it works, but that's it.
No, it's our response when we are correctly showing reservation system data. If you need help in using it then again please email us a specific example and we can help you. Replying to a post from 5 months ago without an example doesn't really help anyone.
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