Booking flights to PPT
Sep 1, 2019, 12:48 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 14
Booking flights to PPT
My husband and I are taking our granddaughter to Tahiti to cruise with windstar next July. We’ve been before and loved it. This time, I’d love to get business class tickets for the three of us. We live in West Texas so flying is awkward so we’ll probably just spend a few days on the west coast and originate from there. We are both platinum fliers with AA and as of today there aren’t any mileage tickets (code share) for business class on TN/AA. I don’t mind purchasing tickets if somewhat reasonable (Hahahaha) but right now AA shows them almost $6,000 per ticket. So:
1. When should I actually try to buy a ticket? It’s almost 10 months away now.
2. If I call AA do they have mileage tickets they don’t show on website?
3. Any suggestions for where to book if not on the airlines site directly? We are flexible with arrival departure days as long as we are there to catch the boat. We can stay several days on either side.
PS we live on Kauai part of the year and I’m willing to fly Hawaiian air but they only have a flight on Saturday and the cruise leaves on Thursday. I still have to get from West texas to Hawaii, so it’s a little complicated.
1. When should I actually try to buy a ticket? It’s almost 10 months away now.
2. If I call AA do they have mileage tickets they don’t show on website?
3. Any suggestions for where to book if not on the airlines site directly? We are flexible with arrival departure days as long as we are there to catch the boat. We can stay several days on either side.
PS we live on Kauai part of the year and I’m willing to fly Hawaiian air but they only have a flight on Saturday and the cruise leaves on Thursday. I still have to get from West texas to Hawaii, so it’s a little complicated.
Last edited by Kauaichick; Sep 1, 2019 at 12:53 pm
Sep 1, 2019, 2:54 pm
#2
Community Director Emerita
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I thought perhaps Air France would offer better value on mileage tickets so checked. Unfortunately, one way biz tickets are 211K miles + $228 and that is the lowest that they offer. Then I checked their prices and paid tickets are similar to what you found on TN. There's no joy with Air France.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Sep 1, 2019, 3:46 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,027
My husband and I are taking our granddaughter to Tahiti to cruise with windstar next July. We’ve been before and loved it. This time, I’d love to get business class tickets for the three of us. We live in West Texas so flying is awkward so we’ll probably just spend a few days on the west coast and originate from there. We are both platinum fliers with AA and as of today there aren’t any mileage tickets (code share) for business class on TN/AA. I don’t mind purchasing tickets if somewhat reasonable (Hahahaha) but right now AA shows them almost $6,000 per ticket. So:
1. When should I actually try to buy a ticket? It’s almost 10 months away now.
2. If I call AA do they have mileage tickets they don’t show on website?
3. Any suggestions for where to book if not on the airlines site directly? We are flexible with arrival departure days as long as we are there to catch the boat. We can stay several days on either side.
PS we live on Kauai part of the year and I’m willing to fly Hawaiian Air but they only have a flight on Saturday and the cruise leaves on Thursday. I still have to get from West Texas to Hawaii, so it’s a little complicated.
1. When should I actually try to buy a ticket? It’s almost 10 months away now.
2. If I call AA do they have mileage tickets they don’t show on website?
3. Any suggestions for where to book if not on the airlines site directly? We are flexible with arrival departure days as long as we are there to catch the boat. We can stay several days on either side.
PS we live on Kauai part of the year and I’m willing to fly Hawaiian Air but they only have a flight on Saturday and the cruise leaves on Thursday. I still have to get from West Texas to Hawaii, so it’s a little complicated.
For airlines than fly to PPT look here:---> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faa%27...tional_Airport
With 10 months out more availability may show up in the next ~6 months.
Getting 3 business class awards on the same flight will be very hard (impossible?)
AA partners with TN. Dedicated TN thread in the AA forum
Air NZ are well know for not offering awards to ff partners. Very occasionally some may show in the weeks before a flight
Some other threads
Last edited by Mwenenzi; Sep 1, 2019 at 5:17 pm
Sep 1, 2019, 4:09 pm
#5
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Business class awards USA Aust/NZ are hard to get.
OP has not stated what other ffp's they are a member of. Or credit card programs. Just relying on AA ffp may lead to failure
AA forum TN ----> AA Miles Award: TN / Air Tahiti Nui award redemptions (master thread)
Sep 1, 2019, 8:37 pm
#7
Join Date: May 2006
Location: GA
Programs: VA-PLT, QF-GLD, DL-GM, UA-ex1K, AA-exPLT, HH-DM, IHG-PLT, MR-GLD
Posts: 8,242
Business class awards to PPT x3... I won't say there is no chance but the lottery probably offers better odds, especially since you can only really look at ~5 day windows, and you (presumably) want to return!
If you want to purchase J (not sure what you call reasonable), I would suggest looking at travel agents (or perhaps call your cruise line?), it can be worth it for J to shop around with 3rd parties.
AKL is the nearest hub so you could look for flights to there. Still the same problem, 3x J will be very rare but at least you have more flights to check. It's still a hike to PPT from AKL however, so depends on whether that is worth it.
Flying through SYD would be a slog. SYD-PPT is more than half the distance of SYD-LAX. It doesn't make sense unless you really love flying, or want to see another location in the pacific on your way to PPT.
If you want to purchase J (not sure what you call reasonable), I would suggest looking at travel agents (or perhaps call your cruise line?), it can be worth it for J to shop around with 3rd parties.
AKL is the nearest hub so you could look for flights to there. Still the same problem, 3x J will be very rare but at least you have more flights to check. It's still a hike to PPT from AKL however, so depends on whether that is worth it.
Flying through SYD would be a slog. SYD-PPT is more than half the distance of SYD-LAX. It doesn't make sense unless you really love flying, or want to see another location in the pacific on your way to PPT.
Sep 1, 2019, 9:44 pm
#8
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...AKL is the nearest hub so you could look for flights to there. Still the same problem, 3x J will be very rare but at least you have more flights to check. It's still a hike to PPT from AKL however, so depends on whether that is worth it.
Flying through SYD would be a slog. SYD-PPT is more than half the distance of SYD-LAX. It doesn't make sense unless you really love flying, or want to see another location in the pacific on your way to PPT.
Flying through SYD would be a slog. SYD-PPT is more than half the distance of SYD-LAX. It doesn't make sense unless you really love flying, or want to see another location in the pacific on your way to PPT.
International flights to PPT--->Great Circle Mapper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faa%27...tional_Airport
Sep 1, 2019, 9:47 pm
#9
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: NT Australia
Programs: QF WP
Posts: 4,160
Indeed it’s pretty poorly located, PPT-NOU and IPC-PPT were both about 6 hours IIRC (I did both in economy). Unless money is a major issue or a tiki tour is desired, only flying direct really makes sense
do AF or TN operate a premium economy cabin on this route?
eta: TN yes, on the 789, AF looks like mainly a 772 with W cabin. French bee looks bloody awful
do AF or TN operate a premium economy cabin on this route?
eta: TN yes, on the 789, AF looks like mainly a 772 with W cabin. French bee looks bloody awful
Sep 2, 2019, 8:29 pm
#11
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In that case I would jump on any J award you find, and hope that another one pops up before you need to purchase.
There is no guaranteed pattern to ticket pricing. It depends on demand of which you have no control. But, I find 6-8 weeks out to be generally a good sweet spot for international ticketing. It might not be the cheapest time to buy tickets, but if demand is low airlines often reduce prices around this time. And prices often go up when you get less than 6 weeks to the departure date.
There is no guaranteed pattern to ticket pricing. It depends on demand of which you have no control. But, I find 6-8 weeks out to be generally a good sweet spot for international ticketing. It might not be the cheapest time to buy tickets, but if demand is low airlines often reduce prices around this time. And prices often go up when you get less than 6 weeks to the departure date.
Sep 2, 2019, 9:16 pm
#12
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The flight with award seat/seats may not be the best deal for a cash paid business class ticket/tickets. But if you want all 3 on the same some compromise (~money) will need to be made.
PPT has a the reputation of being an expensive place. Not a low budget destination, so will have airfares to match.
Business class fares will have less variation that economy. Economy fares can vary, say plus/minus 50%(guess). But you will not see that swing with business class.
Have you considered real premium economy? (Not economy plus ~ economy with more leg room). Some of the airlines may offer PE. [I have not checked]. Mix of business/PE?
With International flights to PPT not many options--->Great Circle Mapper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faa%27...tional_Airport
Aéroport de Tahiti gestionnaire des aéroports : Tahiti Faa'a, Bora Bora, Raiatea, Rangiroa. -
https://www.aeroports-voyages.fr/air...PT/schedule/en
Good luck with the hunt ^
Sep 3, 2019, 5:40 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 14
Thanks for the help and encouragement. My miles are all on AA and even though we have AMX platinum miles and another credit card, not sure if there are enough to do anything important on those. I did find coach awards which is very doable but we are flying one grandkid biz class to Greece next month and wanted to do the same for the other kid. I found a biz class from HNL to PPT but the flight is 5 days before the cruise and not sure if we want to be there that early. We DO want to stay that long after cruising because we are attending the Heiva Tahitian Dance festival. I’m a little nervous to wait too late to purchase for availability/seating reasons so I do like the idea of grabbing award tickets for a just in case then releasing them if I find better. I just need to see what AA’s rules are on canceling them.
Sep 3, 2019, 6:34 pm
#14
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Unless things have recently changed, AA allows free date changes for awards if you maintain the same routing. A very friendly policy. If you change the routing (go from HNL-PPT to LAX-PPT for example), I believe it will be a $150 fee per award.
It does seem to be a shame to use AA miles to book HNL-PPT, when the award for JFK-PPT or even JFK-SYD would be the same amount of miles (USA-Pacific award).
It does seem to be a shame to use AA miles to book HNL-PPT, when the award for JFK-PPT or even JFK-SYD would be the same amount of miles (USA-Pacific award).
Sep 3, 2019, 7:44 pm
#15
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Looking at Saturday July 25 2020 HA HNL to PPT is
3:35pm HNL to 9:30pm PPT
Non-Stop Duration 5h 55m
For an afternoon/early evening 6hr flight in main cabin or extra comfort would be OK for many people. An extra leg room seat would add to the comfort.
https://www.hawaiianairlines.com/Boo...lts#/segment/1
Only considering AA & ff partners including HA & TN, restricts your options
Have you had a read of the AA forum TN thread, as post 5?
3:35pm HNL to 9:30pm PPT
Non-Stop Duration 5h 55m
For an afternoon/early evening 6hr flight in main cabin or extra comfort would be OK for many people. An extra leg room seat would add to the comfort.
https://www.hawaiianairlines.com/Boo...lts#/segment/1
Only considering AA & ff partners including HA & TN, restricts your options
Have you had a read of the AA forum TN thread, as post 5?