FleyeSkyHigh

Nothing has changed. The only difference is that as of Saturday, Dr. Jacques Raynal, head of the French Polynesia Ministry of Health and Prevention, “is now recommending that arriving tourists spend six days in Tahiti or Moorea before travelling to other islands.” This all came after community spread has been detected in Rangiroa. Dr. Raynal had largely been the architect and promoter of the protocol that allowed Tahiti to reopen with testing just prior to arrival and just after entry into the territory. His statements and recommendation over this weekend about now recommending tourists not be allowed to the other islands without a waiting period (presumably after receiving negative arrival self-test results) seems to be a significant change is his position. It’s unclear weather he is suggesting new arrivals should quarantine in either the Tahiti main island or Moorea or just stay there for six days. However, if the goal is to limited the importation of the virus by tourists it would seem counterproductive to allow them to travel freely on the main island (and potentially spread it) as they await their test results.

Again, nothing has been changed and I would expect more clarity over the next week if there will be any changes (which I guess will largely be impacted by if further individuals test positive).

Here are a couple links that you can follow to stay update with the news reports:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/...ench-polynesia

https://www.tahitinews.co/category/sante/ (in French)

The best source of the current entry requirements (which again, remain unchanged) can be found at the following link:

https://tahititourisme.com/en-us/covid-19/

FleyeSkyHigh

[QUOTE=Intl359Widget;32590665]It would appear that the U.S. is still not allowing Europeans in so Air France, Air Tahiti Nui, and French Bee will need to continue to use Vancouver as a transit point for re-fueling and crew change. I would postulate that if the seven day quarantine restriction came into effect, Air Tahiti Nui will pull out of LAX or reduce their 3x weekly service to 1x.

That's what I thought also but was told that European's (and more specifically Air France passengers) were being allowed to transit at certain airports (such as ATL, LAX, JFK, MIA) subject so some special health screening protocols and documentation. I just assumed it was some special visa but I could be way off. I am in agreement that simply reading the order regarding U.S. travel ban it sure would seem that entry into the U.S. (even just for transiting to a connecting international flight) is prohibited. Does any one have any additional information or data points if there are unpublished exceptions or if it is a case where U.S. customs is just interpreting the rule differently from how the order reads? My information came from a senior level person from one of the larger GDS providers to the airlines so usually their info is correct but perhaps it's off this time. I was also told that the reason Air Tahiti Nui choose to essentially segregate their non-U.S. passengers (which will continue to connect through Vancouver) and their U.S. originating passengers through November 1st was that they were concerned about how long the process would take for their arriving and connecting passengers from Paris. So that implies that they would have been allowed to connect at LAX also but TN just was concerned about delays in processing their through passengers at LAX.

escapefromphl

I'm not able to see any standard award availability on any dates ever. I was thinking that a 7 night certificate will allow me to book a standard award (without paying the cash upgrade) but that wont work unless theres award availability to start with right? Even though I see dates with 7 nights of beachside villa no standard award availability on any date. This basically limits your points value to <1c per point.

benjinito

There's award availability, it's just limited and they don't always release all inventory far in advance. Use the flexible calendar search.

escapefromphl

OK I see availability for next 10 days and then I found a few days next year, is there anyway to restrict flexible search from showing points+cash and just show points?

benjinito

The flexible calendar search doesn't show points + cash for me. Anything you see there should only be for the "Reefside Garden Villa", which is what you can book with points without any cash upgrade.

Intl359Widget

That’s an interesting analysis considering I was able to redeem 340k points at a value of $6,425 for a five night stay. This doesn’t factor in the value received from being upgraded into an Overwater Superior Villa $9,515.

This is probably one of my best ever redemption at 1.8 cent just for the Garden Villa and factoring in the upgrade and free breakfast and a ton of other perks...

You’ll enjoy Paradise Perfected in Bora Bora.

Intl359Widget

Now that French Polynesia is open again and demand is surging on limited flight schedules the resorts are doing their best to maximize their revenues in this challenging environment while maintaining social distancing and providing five star service to the customers.

It might be difficult to grab award redemptions further out of the traditional demand curve. Cash is King and King George will send his love.

escapefromphl

Yeah if you can get the garden villa. But it you can only book the points with upgrade (Overwater Superior, Villa, 1 King, Lagoon view, Lagoon access) the points value is not nearly as high. For 6 nights in late November: $4200+ 395,000 Points vs $8300 cash. Barely 1c per point, I'm tempted just to book cash rate, maybe it's better at other times?

benjinito

If the goal is to stay in the overwater bungalow and the Reefside Garden Villa is available during your dates, book that, and contact the hotel directly to upgrade to the Overwater Superior. Should be around $300-$400/night during normal times, and much cheaper right now. I was offered $100/night for a stay in 2 weeks. If you book the points + cash rate, it'd be closer to $750/night for the upgrade. Or keep the Reefside Garden Villa and hope for a complimentary upgrade if you have status, as the hotel is pretty empty right now.

If the Reefside Garden Villa is not available, either pay cash, or wait a bit. They most likely will start releasing those rooms closer to the date.

Intl359Widget

Absolutely and I am reminded of the old adage on FlyerTalk... Want something? Pay for it... to get anything else is a bonus especially on a reward redemption.

escapefromphl

Yeah why not, we've been there and done it before, but not at the St Regis. Booking the base room and then negotiating an upgrade directly has worked well for me before.
It seems you can get 7 nights including all airfare and transfers for around $9k using one of the vacation consolidators. Thats in a One-Bedroom Overwater Superior Lagoon- view room. (Its like a 7 for the price of 5 deal). So by my math I will only save about $2500 for using 440K points + cash for an 1B OVW SLV room vs just buying the whole vacation via consolidator.

hawkswin

How's the internet here? I was thinking of working during my stay a bit and haven't seen anything said about it positively/negatively which usually indicates it's not a huge issue.

Intl359Widget

The Internet was solid during my stay last week. I had several video conferences for my MBA program and the internet service was much better than my own home in the US.

benjinito

[QUOTE=FleyeSkyHigh;32593243]I can confirm that my flight PPT-LAX on 9/2 on Air France has been cancelled. It looks like they are rerouting through Vancouver, however the flight actually doesn't show up as available for purchase, so the agent was unable to rebook me on that flight. I also inquired about rebooking on AIr Tahiti Nui, to which they also declined. The only option I had was to cancel and get a refund.

I was able to book PPT-SFO on United so not a huge deal, but I think Air France could have done a little better with service recovery.