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

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)

Old Mar 13, 2019, 12:00 am
  #166  
 
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Sorry if this isn't the correct thread, but I couldn't find one more specific to my question. It's my understanding from reading various posts in different threads that a flight booked directly with Air Tahiti Nui will NOT earn you AA miles. Is that correct? The posts that I've found on this topic are a few years old, and it seemed like there might be some recent changes to the Air Tahiti Nui/AA relationship, so not sure if that still holds...
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 5:01 am
  #167  
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Originally Posted by gvaughn
Sorry if this isn't the correct thread, but I couldn't find one more specific to my question. It's my understanding from reading various posts in different threads that a flight booked directly with Air Tahiti Nui will NOT earn you AA miles. Is that correct? The posts that I've found on this topic are a few years old, and it seemed like there might be some recent changes to the Air Tahiti Nui/AA relationship, so not sure if that still holds...
Correct, TN is a redemption partner only now, i.e. you can redeem AA miles for flights on TN, but you will not earn AA miles for buying a flight on TN*.

*TN metal flight with TN flight number will not earn any AA miles, but a TN metal flight booked as the AA codeshare (AA flight number) will of course earn full AA miles like always.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 9:21 am
  #168  
 
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Originally Posted by JJeffrey
Correct, TN is a redemption partner only now, i.e. you can redeem AA miles for flights on TN, but you will not earn AA miles for buying a flight on TN*.

*TN metal flight with TN flight number will not earn any AA miles, but a TN metal flight booked as the AA codeshare (AA flight number) will of course earn full AA miles like always.
Thanks for confirming.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 9:23 am
  #169  
 
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Anyone have DP on the likelihood of getting business class upgrade on check-in for PPT to NRT and the cost?
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Old Mar 14, 2019, 8:32 pm
  #170  
 
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Originally Posted by JJeffrey
Correct, TN is a redemption partner only now, i.e. you can redeem AA miles for flights on TN, but you will not earn AA miles for buying a flight on TN*.

*TN metal flight with TN flight number will not earn any AA miles, but a TN metal flight booked as the AA codeshare (AA flight number) will of course earn full AA miles like always.
if one has Plat or above status and books a flight to PPT using the AA flight number, does that means that one can visit the AC or Flagship lounge here in the US?
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Old Mar 15, 2019, 4:44 am
  #171  
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Originally Posted by Reetmafreen


if one has Plat or above status and books a flight to PPT using the AA flight number, does that means that one can visit the AC or Flagship lounge here in the US?
Unfortunately no, since the flight is operated by TN and TN isn't a oneworld carrier.

That's not to say that if you flew to PPT 10 times and tried each time, 2 or 3 times you might get a sympathetic/confused/ill-trained agent who would let you in, especially if you had an AA issued BP with AA flight number. But certainly not something to plan on.
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Old Mar 15, 2019, 5:59 am
  #172  
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Originally Posted by Reetmafreen


if one has Plat or above status and books a flight to PPT using the AA flight number, does that means that one can visit the AC or Flagship lounge here in the US?
No. Must be a oneworld marketed and operated flight, and TN is not a oneworld carrier.
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Old Mar 16, 2019, 4:11 pm
  #173  
 
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Thanks. Prior to Nov 1 I could have used my AC card to gain access, but after that date, AA changes the rules and I would have to be on an AA/OW/AS same day flight to use that card ;(
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Old Mar 27, 2019, 11:50 am
  #174  
 
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Booked PPT to NRT with miles for November last month with a departure time of 0735. Looking at the flight again today it now shows a departure time of 0100.
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Old Apr 14, 2019, 11:59 am
  #175  
 
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I'm flying LAX-PPT today and booked the codeshare via AA. However, TN's interface doesn't allow me to enter my AA number so my reservation on their website and my boarding pass doesn't show my AA number. However, the reservation was made with AA and it's on their website. Does anyone have experience with flight credit posting?
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Old Apr 14, 2019, 12:27 pm
  #176  
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Originally Posted by OskiBear
I'm flying LAX-PPT today and booked the codeshare via AA. However, TN's interface doesn't allow me to enter my AA number so my reservation on their website and my boarding pass doesn't show my AA number. However, the reservation was made with AA and it's on their website. Does anyone have experience with flight credit posting?
Ask again at the airport. Regardless, keep your boarding passes. Those should reflect the AA marketed “codeshare” flight numbers, but give they don’t do retain these, make a screen shot of your booking and email receipt, get a receipt from the prefunds site. Don’t rely on TN ground staff on anything they might say; be self-protective. (I’ve experienced this on AA marketed flights operated by TN.)

If you get a chance, share your impressions when you return - particularly if the flight is operated by a 787.

Air Tahiti Nui / TN 787-9 “Tahitian Dreamliner” (as of 2018)
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Old Apr 14, 2019, 1:20 pm
  #177  
 
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Originally Posted by OskiBear
I'm flying LAX-PPT today and booked the codeshare via AA. However, TN's interface doesn't allow me to enter my AA number so my reservation on their website and my boarding pass doesn't show my AA number. However, the reservation was made with AA and it's on their website. Does anyone have experience with flight credit posting?
my experience is that if the reservation is showing on aa.com (obviously under your AA number), you will get credit.

@JDiver, I flew TN7 last week LAX-PPT and it was a 787. I was in coach (I shall be in business class on the return, also a 787 this week). Is there anything you would like to know?

impressions are that TN is very willing to hold the plane for connecting passengers. There are not any other options for flights to PPT, so if there is a misconnect, there may not be another flight for two days. Plus our flight was completely full, so no standbys... I think they also know that this is the start of many people’s (I mean honeymooners’) dream vacation. So to miss the flight to PPT would suck. In any case, they held our flight for 1.5 hours ... after we had boarded.. which made for an extra long time in the coach seat.

The seats are small, but not as bad as AA standard economy.

Bin space was plentiful - not many people brought carry suitcases because everyone checked big bags for their week. in paradise.

Service was good for everyone except our row - there was a dispute between the guy serving rows 17-22 and our girl who was responsible for rows 23-28. She kept skipping us in row 23. Drinks were plentiful (and free) and the food was decent. The 2nd meal was light and Polynesian, which was perfect considering we were landing shortly afterward and it was almost midnight local time.

Inflight entertainment was decent, but not a huge selection of movies.

anything else you want to know?
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Old Apr 14, 2019, 1:27 pm
  #178  
 
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Originally Posted by JDiver
Ask again at the airport. Regardless, keep your boarding passes. Those should reflect the AA marketed “codeshare” flight numbers, but give they don’t do retain these, make a screen shot of your booking and email receipt, get a receipt from the prefunds site. Don’t rely on TN ground staff on anything they might say; be self-protective. (I’ve experienced this on AA marketed flights operated by TN.)

If you get a chance, share your impressions when you return - particularly if the flight is operated by a 787.

Air Tahiti Nui / TN 787-9 “Tahitian Dreamliner” (as of 2018)
Thanks - I definitely have everything saved, including the original booking receipt, which clearly shows the AA flight numbers.
The boarding pass that I printed online yesterday doesn't actually reflect it's a codeshare, which is a bit different than I'm used to.
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Old Apr 14, 2019, 1:34 pm
  #179  
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Originally Posted by OskiBear
Thanks - I definitely have everything saved, including the original booking receipt, which clearly shows the AA flight numbers.
The boarding pass that I printed online yesterday doesn't actually reflect it's a codeshare, which is a bit different than I'm used to.
Some airlines have poor booking systems in this regard. Try asking for another boarding pass at the TN counter, reflecting the AA marketed flight number, if you have time and it’s possible.

Otherwise, as I recommended, retain boarding pass and AA receipt showing you purchased as AA. Enjoy French Polynesia!
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Old Apr 18, 2019, 1:09 am
  #180  
 
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Good news to report. The flight posted in a couple of days without me having to do anything.
At LAX when checking in, I asked if I could give them my AA number but they said they couldn’t accommodate it in their system and I should follow up after the flight for my miles. Turns out that wasn’t necessary.
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