Personally, given the amount you have, I'd shift 25k MR to BA (enough for two AA flights LAX-HNL), 55k Hawaiian will give you two HA flights HNL-PPT (Saturdays only) and 75k American will give you two Air Tahiti Nui flights PPT-LAX. Availability on all is limited, so you'll need to plan a fair few months ahead, most likely. It works out at a few miles more than just an AA redemption (155k total, rather than 150k), but far less than Delta (200k), and clearly neither of those are very realistic options for you. Takes are lower than with AF.

You could use 40k UA, but IMO those are considerably more valuable than 25k MR and it makes for a poor value redemption. Also, if you can wait for the next BA transfer bonus you'll do even better.

Regarding the VX redemption, be absolutely sure that there's availability with them first before transferring any miles. Also note the 2:1 MR:VX transfer ratio. I tried with VS once, and discovered than there was no availability for the entire year, which was very disappointing.

Moderator action
 

grlnextdoor's question and replies have been appended to the established thread. Reviewing the first few posts should prove helpful.

thank you!! and sorry for the trouble!

It does take planning to create a free trip to French Polynesia, but it can be done. We've done it twice, free airfare, free hotel nights and even free food. And, we're going back again possibly next year. Free airfare (including the flights to/from Bora Bora and Tahiti using a general travel awards card that will reimburse the purchase since those flights have no miles partner or program), free hotel nights for 2 weeks and using another card to use points to pay for upgrades. It has taken a lot of work, a lot of signup bonuses and a lot of spending requirements to meet, but we have ways to do that. This will be our 3rd free trip to FP (each two weeks). In fact, I don't understand the concept of buying timeshares when I can travel free every year. But then again, it's only my wife and I since we have no kids so I guess that makes it easier. This year it's back to USVI and BVI for free. We never take free vacations for granted. It takes some planning and really good credit so you can apply and receive all the necessary credit cards, plus never spending more than what you'll pay off each month. Between Amazon Payments and Blue Bird we've found the 2 of us can rack up a lot of 'spending'. If it wasn't for these ways we wouldn't be able to travel free. The Chase Ink Bold offer recently (now gone) for 60,000 points was an incredible value. Between 2 of us that's over $1600 in travel reimbursement money. I love Chase!:D

Actually i got a 50k ur ink plus and was able to send a securred message in to ask for the other 10k everybody was getting and they gave em to me once i met my min spend anyway...

As for FP, we have it on our list but man wed need a lot of spg!!

I've been searching availabilty on TN and can find 2 biz. tickets later this year, but it would mean a 2 week trip. Is this too long for FP? I could look for a stopover in NZ or HNL, but I'm not sure how long most people think it takes to experience FP. Thoughts welcome.

Well I'm no expert on FP, but I know a lot of people go for 7-14 days. It probably depends on what type of vacationer you are, and how many islands you go to. The flight arrival/take off times are pretty bad, and it is easy to lose a day or two in the process, plus with jet lag it'll kill another day or so. You could easily do 1 day in Tahiti, 5-6 days in Moorea and 5-6 days in Bora Bora, or even add another island.

I think if your idea of a vacation is hitting up 3 countries in 2 weeks, then probably 2 weeks in FP is too long. If you're fine chilling at 1 resort for a week relaxing, obviously this is the perfect vacation.

It may be a little long for me, as I would normally hit up 2 countries in 2 weeks. :) However, I looked to try to stopover in HNL or AKL and could not find a way to make it work near Thanksgiving. So, I just went ahead and ticketed for biz. the week before Thanksgiving, with a 2 night stay in LA on the return. I'm going to Tahiti Life is good!

French Polynesia
 

We returned yesterday :( from out 3 week stay. 4 nights in Moorea at the Hilton (free on points with a $125 a night upgrade for an overwater unit), free internet and breakfast, then a 10 night Paul Gauguin Cruise and then 6 nights in an overwater unit on Rangiora at the Kia Ora. It is a great trip.

We used AA miles for our business class tickets from JFK to PPT and had the newly refurbished ATN plane for one of the flights. We booked 330 days in advance as it appeared ATN only releases 2 business class seats per flight.

You can easily do 14 nights but if you do I would go to Moorea, Bora Bora and one other island (not counting Tahiti) to break it up. It is a great place to visit.

Thanks for the info flightmedic. How was the Paul Gaugin cruise? Would you recommend it? Hadn't thought of visiting Rangiora--I'll have to research it.

French Polynesia
 

This was our third trip on the Paul Gauguin. It is a great small ship, about 320 passengers. All inclusive including tips and alcohol. Only extra is for shore excursions. They do a spectacular job in this region. On our trip Jacques Cousteau's (sp?) son Jean-Michel was a guest lecturer which was great as was going on three dives with him.

Cruisecritic has tons of info on the ship and if you want any more infor feel free to PM me. Rangiora is very isolated and has spectacular diving and snorkeling.

Looking for help booking Korean Air award to PPT
 

I'm looking for some help booking an award flight to PPT in April 2014. We currently have 190K UR points that we want to transfer to Korean Air to book the Air France Business class award for the LAX-PPT flight. How can I find if there is award availability for that flight? I've search ExpertFlyer and they do show Business availability, but when I called Korean Air to book (following advice on the Miles and Martinis blog) they said there was no availability for our dates.

Any advice on what to do? What fare classes are we looking at for SkyTeam partner award redemptions? Are there certain Air France classes that are only available to FlyingBlue members? I'm just trying to understand fare classes and the whole system a little better to see if Business will be an option or if we should just go ahead and book economy. The Korean Air representative did confirm Economy award availability on that flight.

Thanks!

Business class on AF LAX-PPT is almost impossible to get if you are trying to plan months in advance. AF tends to release Business class closer to departure date much like what Delta does with their low-level awards. For instance, AF has business class availability in the next couple of weeks but nothing beyond that. I suggest also using the AlaskaAir website to see what AF partner availability is really like. I think it's easier than the Delta website.

I'm kinda curious about the whole over-the-water bungalow thing. I understand the points will not normally cover them. Which resorts (and where) offer the lowest add-on rate? I'm not hell-bent on any particular destinations.

Overwater Bungalow
 

These are offered throughout the region. Moorea, easily accessible via an inexpensive high speed ferry from Tahiti, has these at the the Pearl, Sofitel, Hilton and Intercontinental. They are also offered at the Intercontinental on Tahiti. For all other islands you will need. $400+ RT airfare.

Many resorts on Bora Bora have them as does a resort on Huhaine, another on Taha'a and on Rangiora. Lots to chose from. On Tahiti and Moorea will be the least expensive.