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Air Tahiti Nui 787 News


twin123185
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Will be interesting to see what ATN and AF do with their airfares once FB starts to fly and become a proven option ... sure FB is a big discounter but the money one saves pays for a bunch of excursions ;)

 

My guess is we will see ATN and AF lower their fares and FB will likely increase their airfares but staying the lowest priced option.

 

I can see the prices routinely hang around $1000 R/T from LAX or SFO for economy with one checked bag and eats. We'll see soon enough ...

 

We need to remember part of the issue is the taxes which all airlines pay .... you can only go so low.

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  • 4 months later...

To be honest, I'm more interested in the Premium Economy class to be offered on ATN's new 787 fleet. Depending on price, I think it could be the perfect compromise between physically painful Economy and financially painful Business classes.

 

I'd try AF but so far they only have morning departures PPT -> LAX which is too bad as evening redeye departures work much better for us.

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To be honest, I'm more interested in the Premium Economy class to be offered on ATN's new 787 fleet. Depending on price, I think it could be the perfect compromise between physically painful Economy and financially painful Business classes.

 

I'd try AF but so far they only have morning departures PPT -> LAX which is too bad as evening redeye departures work much better for us.

 

Yes, I agree. PE is our preferable mode when we (mostly) can't afford Business. I like the morning departure from PPT, but that's just us. It does necessitate a "forced overnight" in L.A. to avoid an ongoing redeye to Toronto, but I would love it if I never had a redeye again, ever, lol.

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I'm just glad to be able to go to paradise ... doesn't matter to us in what class. We are fortunate that neither of us are tall so the economy seats work just fine but I could imagine for a 6 foot plus person it could be a bit tight.

 

We prefer the red eye from LAX but would love to see an evening flight leaving PPT at around 8:00 pm as this would put us back at LAX at around 7:00 am.

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Does anyone know how the following works …..We cruise Oct. 2019 and ATN will have two new planes by spring 2019 and a couple older ones without premium economy Oct. 2019 when we cruise. If we book air pkg through PG will they know which air craft is flying when so we can book P.E. ? We are planning a pre-cruise stay and very flexible regarding our schedule for flights. Thanks so much

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Does anyone know how the following works …..We cruise Oct. 2019 and ATN will have two new planes by spring 2019 and a couple older ones without premium economy Oct. 2019 when we cruise. If we book air pkg through PG will they know which air craft is flying when so we can book P.E. ? We are planning a pre-cruise stay and very flexible regarding our schedule for flights. Thanks so much

 

Just a bit of digging .... the answer from ATN website

 

"The new “Tahitian Dreamliner” will be available starting November 2018 on its first flights between Tahiti and Auckland, New Zealand. The phasing out of Air Tahiti Nui’s current Airbus A340-300 fleet will commence in November 2018 and be completed by September 2019, coinciding with the airline’s 20th anniversary."

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  • 4 months later...

My TA says you get a $1700 credit per person from PG Cruises if you book your own airfare so that gives you an idea of what the upgrade to Premium Economy should be given ATN fares currently range around $2200-$2600. My TA is checking with PG but I'm guessing they'll likely charge $800-$1000pp to upgrade. I'll post what I find out.

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After our second PG cruise we have always taken the credit and used miles for award travel.  Understand that by not taking the PG air you also lose transfers and the day room after the cruise.  On arrival this is not a big deal as you can taxi to the airport and/or you may be arriving a few nights early (highly recommended).  At the end of the cruise when we have continued our vacation on land it was an easy ferry to Moorea or a taxi to the airport for a flight to another island.  When we were flying home late at night after the cruise it is a pain as the day room and opportunity to relax at a hotel is great but getting a day room independently is very, very challenging.

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Hey Medic, we're leaning towards taking the PG airfare credit and booking our own Premium Economy seats, not because we have enough award miles (I wish!) but for the cost savings.

 

My TA says PG charges $1250 to upgrade from their included Coach fare to Premium Economy. Given a PG $1700 credit if you book your own air travel, that means they're essentially charging $2950 for a PE seat that currently sells for $2213 (July 2019 rates). Rates change, of course, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

 

We plan on a 1-night pre-cruise stay at the IC Tahiti before boarding the PG. That includes hotel transfers from the airport and to the pier so I think we're good on that end.

 

I don't think the day room benefit is of much value to us post-cruise, however, as we'll be staying at the St Regis in Bora Bora which is not an IC property. We'll get a late check out there before our flight back to PPT and on to LAX that night.


Related question... if we choose to go back to PPT several hours before our evening flight back to LAX, are there any luggage storage options at the airport? We may want to taxi downtown ($50 or so?) to the market for some shopping and dinner before the trip home and obviously don't want to haul our luggage around. Most airlines won't accept checked bags that early. Not sure what ATN's policy is at PPT.

 

 

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3 hours ago, Hutchinj said:

Hey Medic, we're leaning towards taking the PG airfare credit and booking our own Premium Economy seats, not because we have enough award miles (I wish!) but for the cost savings.

 

My TA says PG charges $1250 to upgrade from their included Coach fare to Premium Economy. Given a PG $1700 credit if you book your own air travel, that means they're essentially charging $2950 for a PE seat that currently sells for $2213 (July 2019 rates). Rates change, of course, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

 

We plan on a 1-night pre-cruise stay at the IC Tahiti before boarding the PG. That includes hotel transfers from the airport and to the pier so I think we're good on that end.

 

I don't think the day room benefit is of much value to us post-cruise, however, as we'll be staying at the St Regis in Bora Bora which is not an IC property. We'll get a late check out there before our flight back to PPT and on to LAX that night.


Related question... if we choose to go back to PPT several hours before our evening flight back to LAX, are there any luggage storage options at the airport? We may want to taxi downtown ($50 or so?) to the market for some shopping and dinner before the trip home and obviously don't want to haul our luggage around. Most airlines won't accept checked bags that early. Not sure what ATN's policy is at PPT.

 

 

 

Yes, there's a luggage storage facility at the airport.  At the right end, as you face out.  I've never used it but have heard it's fine and reliable.

 

The way we've solved the dayroom problem is by taking Air France and doing an overnight (or two) first.  For us Le Meridien works well.  Both times we've done this we've gotten our room right away when we arrived in the morning.

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We made the same decision to book Premium Economy for our June 2019 PG cruise. At the time we booked back in late Sept, Paul Gauguin said they didn't have any of their negotiated fares yet for Premium Economy, and our only choices were Economy or Business Class. We wanted the 2-3-2 configuration in the 787 PE so we could get a window/aisle together for the long flights (the 787 Economy is 3-3-3). So we purchased our air fare direct from ATN.

 

We did purchase two pre-cruise nights at the IC Tahiti through Paul Gauguin, so they told us even though we didn't buy our air through PG, the land package would still include airport-to-IC and IC-to-pier transfers. If that is the case, we should be good on the front end. The 787 arrives at 9:45pm, so we should be at the IC before too late.

 

We have a similar issue to Hutchinj on the back end, where we've booked our own three-night post cruise at the Hilton Moorea. From reading here, it seems we can pick up our luggage after debarkation and go straight to the ferry terminal for the ride over to Moorea to hang out at the Hilton until our room is ready. So that should be reasonably simple. But after check-out from the Hilton, we'll need to catch an afternoon ferry back to Tahiti, but our ATN flight doesn't depart until 9:30pm. We can check-out of the Hilton, check our luggage with the bell staff at the Hilton, and stay at the hotel/pool until time to get to the ferry. I haven't looked at schedules yet, but I don't want to wait so long as to risk some ferry issue making it hard to get back to Tahiti. We'll then have some time between ferry arrival and airport check-in with luggage in tow. Anyone have thoughts on how best to play that last afternoon/evening? Also, should we book ferry space in advance?

 

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I agree you don't need to book the ferry in advance, in either direction.

 

As for coming back, your hotel can give you the ferry schedule, and you should be able to get one late in the day, but be aware that the ferries DO NOT run after dark, which is about 6 p.m.

 

And you'll want to get to the airport by 6:30 anyways.  The lines will be long, and the experience is awful, but that's just the way it is.   You should budget about a half hour to get by cab to the airport from the port--it might take 15 minutes, but it will be reasonably busy traffic at that time of day.

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On 12/18/2018 at 5:42 PM, FlightMedic555 said:

No need to book a ferry in advance. With a 9;30 pm return flight you want to be at the airport by 7:00, more or less. I prefer to be there early. You can take a ferry and then eat at the food trucks which set up at the waterfront st 6:00 pm and then taxi to the airport. 

 

1 hour ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

I agree you don't need to book the ferry in advance, in either direction.

 

As for coming back, your hotel can give you the ferry schedule, and you should be able to get one late in the day, but be aware that the ferries DO NOT run after dark, which is about 6 p.m.

 

And you'll want to get to the airport by 6:30 anyways.  The lines will be long, and the experience is awful, but that's just the way it is.   You should budget about a half hour to get by cab to the airport from the port--it might take 15 minutes, but it will be reasonably busy traffic at that time of day.

 

 Thanks. Perusing their online schedules, it looks like for both ferry companies the Moorea-to-Tahiti PM departures are generally at like 2:45pm and 4:45 pm or so. So the 4:45 would seem about right to get to the airport at 6-6:30 or so. But...I'm a little apprehensive about waiting until the last ferry in case of some sort of schedule/operational issue and no back-up options. The 2:45 is really early though, with lots of time to kill schlepping luggage. Thoughts on all that?

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15 hours ago, FlightMedic555 said:

I would be comfortable with the last ferry.  I would hang out at the food trucks and eat at 6 when they start.  Taxi at 6:30 gets you to airport by 7:00 pm at the latest. That is fine for a 9:30 flight. 

 

I was thinking more along the lines of eating a late-ish lunch at the Hilton Moorea since we're more restaurant people than food truck people. Eat a big breakfast and a hearty lunch and then I assume we'll get at least some sort of light meal in Premium Economy on ATN and we should be fine.

 

I'm always someone who likes to have a Plan B/backup, so if we planned on the last ferry, what would be a back-up/Plan B to get to the PPT airport from Moorea if, heaven forbid, there was some operational issue with that last ferry?

Edited by JIMinNC
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The food trucks, called Les Roulottes, are good!  And conveniently close to the ferry dock.

 

I know what you mean about the ferry--perhaps you can wait and see what the weather looks like.  Operational issues are out of your control, but there are worse things than being stuck in paradise, and one of them is being stuck at the PPT airport!

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