[Primer] Using Points for French Polynesia
Oct 26, 2012 | 9:01 am
#31
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: LAX
Programs: Peon status: last row in economy and the occassional upgrade at roach motels.
Posts: 617
So from my research it appears that the cheapest way to fly to Tahiti from West Coast North America is to use Avios miles (25K r/t) to fly from the West Coast to Honolulu (with either Alaska or American Airlines) and then Korean Airlines miles 30K r/t (with Air Tahiti Nui) from Honolulu to Tahiti totaling 55K miles round trip. Is there any cheaper mile redemption?
Last edited by eknock007; Oct 26, 2012 at 9:11 am
Oct 26, 2012 | 12:08 pm
#32
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: BOS .. but soon SFO
Programs: UA PLAT, TK GLD, Hilton Diamond, IC PLAT, SPG GLD, Marriott GLD
Posts: 1,528
Oct 26, 2012 | 12:53 pm
#34
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: PC Plat RA, SPG Gold, AS MVPG
Posts: 811
150K gets you two tickets from LAX - PPT.
30K of priority club a night for Moorea intercontinental
50K of PC a night for BOB intercontinental
You can go with Delta/AF miles too from LAX, costs more than 75K per person return though. not sure how much exactly. Also AF's flight doesn't go daily, so you are a bit more limited on dates.
AA (buying air tahiti nui) arrives at night. so you have to stay at Tahiti your first night, but it leaves at night, so you don't have to stay your last night.
AF arrives during day so you can skip your first night and go straight to another island, but leaves at 8am, so you have to stay the night before on Tahiti.. so works out the same.
30K of priority club a night for Moorea intercontinental
50K of PC a night for BOB intercontinental
You can go with Delta/AF miles too from LAX, costs more than 75K per person return though. not sure how much exactly. Also AF's flight doesn't go daily, so you are a bit more limited on dates.
AA (buying air tahiti nui) arrives at night. so you have to stay at Tahiti your first night, but it leaves at night, so you don't have to stay your last night.
AF arrives during day so you can skip your first night and go straight to another island, but leaves at 8am, so you have to stay the night before on Tahiti.. so works out the same.
Oct 26, 2012 | 1:09 pm
#35
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,680
150K gets you two tickets from LAX - PPT.
30K of priority club a night for Moorea intercontinental
50K of PC a night for BOB intercontinental
You can go with Delta/AF miles too from LAX, costs more than 75K per person return though. not sure how much exactly. Also AF's flight doesn't go daily, so you are a bit more limited on dates.
AA (buying air tahiti nui) arrives at night. so you have to stay at Tahiti your first night, but it leaves at night, so you don't have to stay your last night.
AF arrives during day so you can skip your first night and go straight to another island, but leaves at 8am, so you have to stay the night before on Tahiti.. so works out the same.
30K of priority club a night for Moorea intercontinental
50K of PC a night for BOB intercontinental
You can go with Delta/AF miles too from LAX, costs more than 75K per person return though. not sure how much exactly. Also AF's flight doesn't go daily, so you are a bit more limited on dates.
AA (buying air tahiti nui) arrives at night. so you have to stay at Tahiti your first night, but it leaves at night, so you don't have to stay your last night.
AF arrives during day so you can skip your first night and go straight to another island, but leaves at 8am, so you have to stay the night before on Tahiti.. so works out the same.
Oct 26, 2012 | 11:08 pm
#36
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 240
Thanks but ANA is known to tag on heavy fuel surcharges, can anyone confirm if they attach or make up YQ on Hawaiian Airlines flight from the US to PPT?
Oct 27, 2012 | 12:19 pm
#37
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 501
Thanks-Tahiti Here We Come (again)
Thanks to all. Based upon your suggestion I have just booked my 4 night AXON award at the Hilton on Moorea using points (HHonors Card, 2x Hawaiian Airline Cards with point transfer to Hilton), Business Class from JFK-PPT (Citibank AA 75,000 x4), as well as a pretty expensive interisland flight from PPT-Rangiora paid for with the Chase Sapphire points/dollars (we were targeted for the 70,000 points offer x2).
Still spending a lot as we have a Paul Gauguin 10 night cruise and 6 nights to pay for on Rangiora but this is spectacular.
Still spending a lot as we have a Paul Gauguin 10 night cruise and 6 nights to pay for on Rangiora but this is spectacular.
Oct 27, 2012 | 6:26 pm
#39
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 501
Flights
I used expert flyer to watch for availability booking exactly 330 days out when they opened. It looked like they only released two business class seats per flight. I made the outbound 3 days before I really wanted to travel and kept moving it each day as availability came through. I was on the phone with AA at 4am to do this.
For the return I reserved about 3 days before I really wanted to return and again moved it each day finally settling on one extra day in Tahiti. With 4 nights per cruise on Moorea and 6 post cruise on Rangiora I had some flexibility.
I have flown ATN twice during the past two years. Once in business, not bad, and once in coach. Coach in ATN is one of the worst products in existence. The are rests only go up about 2/3 of the way, leg room is non existent, and the seats are hard as a rock. I spent the overnight flit standing in the aisle and swore I would never do that again. Now I am 6'4" tall so shorter people may not have an issue.
If you plan this right you can easily do 4 nights on Moorea, 4 on Bora Bora, all at the Hilton from the East Coast for less than $1,000 per person including the inter island air fare, ferry and one night as needed on Tahiti (Fare Suisse). This would include breakfast. Excursions, other meals and drinks extra.
For the return I reserved about 3 days before I really wanted to return and again moved it each day finally settling on one extra day in Tahiti. With 4 nights per cruise on Moorea and 6 post cruise on Rangiora I had some flexibility.
I have flown ATN twice during the past two years. Once in business, not bad, and once in coach. Coach in ATN is one of the worst products in existence. The are rests only go up about 2/3 of the way, leg room is non existent, and the seats are hard as a rock. I spent the overnight flit standing in the aisle and swore I would never do that again. Now I am 6'4" tall so shorter people may not have an issue.
If you plan this right you can easily do 4 nights on Moorea, 4 on Bora Bora, all at the Hilton from the East Coast for less than $1,000 per person including the inter island air fare, ferry and one night as needed on Tahiti (Fare Suisse). This would include breakfast. Excursions, other meals and drinks extra.
Last edited by flightmedic; Oct 27, 2012 at 6:34 pm
Oct 27, 2012 | 6:59 pm
#41
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: too far from the airport
Posts: 3,299
I used expert flyer to watch for availability booking exactly 330 days out when they opened. It looked like they only released two business class seats per flight. I made the outbound 3 days before I really wanted to travel and kept moving it each day as availability came through. I was on the phone with AA at 4am to do this.
For the return I reserved about 3 days before I really wanted to return and again moved it each day finally settling on one extra day in Tahiti. With 4 nights per cruise on Moorea and 6 post cruise on Rangiora I had some flexibility.
I have flown ATN twice during the past two years. Once in business, not bad, and once in coach. Coach in ATN is one of the worst products in existence. The are rests only go up about 2/3 of the way, leg room is non existent, and the seats are hard as a rock. I spent the overnight flit standing in the aisle and swore I would never do that again. Now I am 6'4" tall so shorter people may not have an issue.
If you plan this right you can easily do 4 nights on Moorea, 4 on Bora Bora, all at the Hilton from the East Coast for less than $1,000 per person including the inter island air fare, ferry and one night as needed on Tahiti (Fare Suisse). This would include breakfast. Excursions, other meals and drinks extra.
For the return I reserved about 3 days before I really wanted to return and again moved it each day finally settling on one extra day in Tahiti. With 4 nights per cruise on Moorea and 6 post cruise on Rangiora I had some flexibility.
I have flown ATN twice during the past two years. Once in business, not bad, and once in coach. Coach in ATN is one of the worst products in existence. The are rests only go up about 2/3 of the way, leg room is non existent, and the seats are hard as a rock. I spent the overnight flit standing in the aisle and swore I would never do that again. Now I am 6'4" tall so shorter people may not have an issue.
If you plan this right you can easily do 4 nights on Moorea, 4 on Bora Bora, all at the Hilton from the East Coast for less than $1,000 per person including the inter island air fare, ferry and one night as needed on Tahiti (Fare Suisse). This would include breakfast. Excursions, other meals and drinks extra.
Oct 28, 2012 | 9:33 am
#44
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 59
Looking at heading to Argentina via TYO and PPT heading:
PDX-SFO-TYO-PPT-IPC-SCL-MDZ-SCL-LAX-PDX
150k AA on an explorer ticket.
Anyone know about availability from NRT-PPT via TN? Might be hard as it looks like they only fly that route M and Sat. You can route TYO-HNL-PPT also but neither comes up on the BA/QF website.
PDX-SFO-TYO-PPT-IPC-SCL-MDZ-SCL-LAX-PDX
150k AA on an explorer ticket.
Anyone know about availability from NRT-PPT via TN? Might be hard as it looks like they only fly that route M and Sat. You can route TYO-HNL-PPT also but neither comes up on the BA/QF website.
Oct 28, 2012 | 10:42 am
#45
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: ATL
Programs: Shamelessly Gold at Flying Burrito and AirTrain A+ Elite. Turkish Star Gold, 100k at Flying Eskimo
Posts: 811
If you plan this right you can easily do 4 nights on Moorea, 4 on Bora Bora, all at the Hilton from the East Coast for less than $1,000 per person including the inter island air fare, ferry and one night as needed on Tahiti (Fare Suisse). This would include breakfast. Excursions, other meals and drinks extra.
