Air Tahiti Nui 787 News

[sita]

3 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

there are worse things than being stuck in paradise, and one of them is being stuck at the PPT airport!

 

Wendy the Wanderer for the win! 

[dexddd]

What are people seeing for the upcharge to full business if booked air with PG/ATN?

 

Any other updates on upcharge to PE or credits?

[Hutchinj]

They used to offer $1700 pp credit if you booked your own airfare, but currently the legal/privacy page on the pgcruises.com website states:

 

Air credit for non-use of air promotions is $1,600 - $2,000 per person, depending on itinerary

 

I'm planning on booking our own  Premium Economy (PE) tickets so this is of great interest to  me, too.

 

I don't know what PG would upcharge you to go from Coach to PE or Business but I'd wager it would be more than what you could do thru a TA. If you book your own airfare you lose the transfer benefits with the IC Tahiti resort so keep that in mind. We are doing a pre-cruise on Moorea so it's of no consequence to us.

[dexddd]

27 minutes ago, Hutchinj said:

They used to offer $1700 pp credit if you booked your own airfare, but currently the legal/privacy page on the pgcruises.com website states:

 

Air credit for non-use of air promotions is $1,600 - $2,000 per person, depending on itinerary

 

I'm planning on booking our own  Premium Economy (PE) tickets so this is of great interest to  me, too.

 

I don't know what PG would upcharge you to go from Coach to PE or Business but I'd wager it would be more than what you could do thru a TA. If you book your own airfare you lose the transfer benefits with the IC Tahiti resort so keep that in mind. We are doing a pre-cruise on Moorea so it's of no consequence to us.

Yes, I saw that and curious how they determined that.  Last time we went it was a straight amount like $1500.  We did the IC over there day room which was nice but did air deviation coming home and left the last night after dinner to catch the flight home.

[dexddd]

One more question.  See they have a 16:40 flight from LAX.  Anyone ever have PG book them on that?  I know they used to have late flights in from other countries to PPT that is why the PG always left so late.  Seems like in some cases would be better than late flight.

[fount]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

One more question.  See they have a 16:40 flight from LAX.  Anyone ever have PG book them on that?  I know they used to have late flights in from other countries to PPT that is why the PG always left so late.  Seems like in some cases would be better than late flight.

We are booked on the 4:40 flight on July 6th.  This is our first time sailing with PG and also our first time on ATN.  I would be very interested to find out how much more we would have to pay to get PE.  

[Hutchinj]

37 minutes ago, fount said:

We are booked on the 4:40 flight on July 6th.  This is our first time sailing with PG and also our first time on ATN.  I would be very interested to find out how much more we would have to pay to get PE.  

 

My TA says for 2019 PG wants $1,250 per person to upgrade to Premium Economy & $3,850 per person for Business. It'll probably increase a bit in 2020. But you should go ask PG yourself just to be sure. And please let us know if they tell you something different!

Edited March 8, 2019 by Hutchinj
new

[SWFLAOK]

We've been on 2 PG cruises so far,  flying from LAX to PPT and back. The first time we were given the late flight that arrives at 11:30 with the cruise departing at midnight. We were concerned with the short timeframe, but when we checked in for the flight, we were told that there were seventy people on our flight that were on our cruise. The cruise waits for that flight to arrive, and has a very short distance to cruise during the night.

However, we decided we would rather board in the afternoon instead of at midnight, so on our second cruise, we booked a night at the IC hotel before our cruise. It was a Marquesa Show night so the free entertainment was a plus, and we had enjoyed our day room after getting  off our previous cruise.

With the second cruise, PG offered us an even later flight from LAX, with an overnight stay before our cruise. We left very late, were served dinner and wine, slept all night and were given breakfast on the flight. After landing, we were taken to the IC hotel, and our room was ready at 7 AM. We had to pay for lunch and dinner that day,  but had free breakfast buffet, and lunch from the buffet or menu, before being taken to the ship and boarding early in the afternoon. It was much more relaxing than not staying overnight at the hotel before the cruise.

In September, we're headed for our third cruise. We're on the 4:40 flight from LAX, which is much more convenient than the later flights since we aren't from the LAX area. We're again staying at the IC, and while we'll get in late at night, we'll have a good nights sleep, and enjoy the hotel amenities (and a free breakfast buffet) in the morning.

We hate the new 787 layout for overnight flights since we like to sleep without an extra person sitting next to us. On the late afternoon flight, we expect to be awake. We'll be spending a few days in California before the flight this year and expect to be adjusted to the time change.

Edited March 9, 2019 by SWFLAOK
fixing my run-on sentence

[dexddd]

14 hours ago, fount said:

We are booked on the 4:40 flight on July 6th.  This is our first time sailing with PG and also our first time on ATN.  I would be very interested to find out how much more we would have to pay to get PE.  

Day of or night before?

 

I could see it being either if they currently are paying for day room anyways, why not let you get there the night before and relax.

[fount]

3 hours ago, dexddd said:

Day of or night before?

 

I could see it being either if they currently are paying for day room anyways, why not let you get there the night before and relax.

Actually, we are flying in 4 days before our cruise.  We did a pre cruise booking with PG and it appeared to be a great deal.  This way, we get to wake up in Tahiti on our 40th Anniversary!  😎

[Wendy The Wanderer]

23 hours ago, fount said:

Actually, we are flying in 4 days before our cruise.  We did a pre cruise booking with PG and it appeared to be a great deal.  This way, we get to wake up in Tahiti on our 40th Anniversary!  😎

 

Good for you!  I'd be curious about what time the 4 p.m. flight arrives in Tahiti.  It no doubt will be the middle of the night, right?  How does that impact your pre-cruise (4 nights I presume, which means the arrival night is the first?)  We once arrived at the Pearl at about 3 a.m. and although check-in was handled well, the arrival time wasn't great, and getting through customs & immigration was the usual hell on earth.

Edited March 10, 2019 by Wendy The Wanderer

[Hutchinj]

As per their website, ATN flights departing LAX at 4:40 pm arrive PPT at 9:45 pm.

 

Given we book this flight our plan is to spend the first night at the IC Tahiti in a standard garden view room, have breakfast there the next morning, then catch the ferry to Moorea for our 3-day pre-cruise stay.

[SWFLAOK]

It was very little more to arrive at 9:45 PM and stay 2 nights at the IC in Tahiti (with 2 breakfasts and 1 lunch) than it was to take the late flight from LAX and arrive at PPT at 5 AM and spend 1 night. It seemed like a no brainer to us.

[fount]

On 3/9/2019 at 4:41 AM, dexddd said:

Day of or night before?

 

I could see it being either if they currently are paying for day room anyways, why not let you get there the night before and relax.

 

10 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

Good for you!  I'd be curious about what time the 4 p.m. flight arrives in Tahiti.  It no doubt will be the middle of the night, right?  How does that impact your pre-cruise (4 nights I presume, which means the arrival night is the first?)  We once arrived at the Pearl at about 3 a.m. and although check-in was handled well, the arrival time wasn't great, and getting through customs & immigration was the usual hell on earth.

Wendy, we get in at 9:45 pm.  We are so excited!  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, fount said:

 

Wendy, we get in at 9:45 pm.  We are so excited!  

That's great, I got my times all screws up!

[SWFLAOK]

Just to clarify how the flights that PG books before the cruise,  there is no free day room. You will be on the flight from LAX that arrives at 11:30 PM. The free day room is after getting off the ship since the return flight will be at 11PM from PPT to LAX.

If you have PG book your airfare,  you can pay for 1 or 2 nights at the IC. That gets you a flight at at different time, allowing you to arrive at 9:45 PMif you book 2 nights, or arrive at 5:30 AM if you book 1 night.

[Hutchinj]

Go figure. I wasn't even aware that ATN had a flight from LAX that arrives PPT at 11:30 PM.

 

I'd rather take the Redeye! :)

 

[SWFLAOK]

 We found the red eye that comes with a 1 night stay at the IC to be much better than the straight to the ship flight arriving at 11:30pm that you get without any overnight stay.

We apparently waited too long to book our LAX to PPT flight in September on the 4:40 PM and had to upgrade to Premium Economy to sit near each other. It's a one way since our flight back is from Fiji to LAX on a different airline (where we could still find 2 seats together in economy). I believe the upgrade is 800 per person from LAX to PPT.  Apparently, the 4:40 PM flight from LAX to PPT is the one that comes from Paris and is already  close to full on most flights.

[Hutchinj]

So how was the ATN Premium Economy class from LAX to PPT?

 

I've heard good things about the new Dreamliner compared to the old Airbus.

[SWFLAOK]

We haven't taken our ATN Premium Economy class flight yet since it's for our next PG cruise in September. Since we never felt like we needed to spend the extra money to upgrade to Premium Economy on the Airbus, and now felt we would not be comfortable without spending an extra 1600 dollars, my opinion so far is that I preferred the old Airbus. The Airbus layout of 2-4-2 in economy is ideal for 2 people on a long flight with naps and bathroom breaks easily accomplished. The Dreamliner layout of 3-3-3 in economy is a definite disadvantage for 2 people.

 

[Hutchinj]

Good point, SW. A 2-4-2 layout is much nicer for couples on a long flight. I'm a bit confused, however, as I didn't think there was a Premium Economy offering on the Airbus... only Economy and Business.

 

We are bumping ours seats to Premium Economy on the Dreamliner partly because of the 2-3-2 seating arrangement it affords and also because it seems to be a nice compromise between business and economy classes. The online Dreamliner reviews I've read so far have been pretty good but time will tell, I guess.

 

With the $1700pp or so credit we get from PG and the airfare deal arranged by our TA, Premium Economy seems to make sense for us. This is our bucket list trip, after all. :)

[SWFLAOK]

I don't know if there were premium economy seats on ATN's airbus. We were always comfortable in our included economy seats, on the 2 side with a window. From what I saw online, Premium Economy on ATN's  dreamliner is a separate cabin from Economy or Business Class. The seats in Economy are narrower than they were on the airbus, so that's another reason to upgrade to Premium Economy. Business class is out of our price range if we have to pay for it.

I expect this to be our last PG cruise since we've already done the Tuamotus, Marquesas, and Cook Island, and will be doing the cruise to Fiji in September. We spent a week on Bora Bora and on a week in Moorea in overwater bungalows 25 years ago, and found the Paul Gauguin to be more economical, and still totally enjoyable. But there are other places in the world to see, and Regent includes Business class airfare with their cruises.

[alwaysonaship]

4 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

I don't know if there were premium economy seats on ATN's airbus. We were always comfortable in our included economy seats, on the 2 side with a window. From what I saw online, Premium Economy on ATN's  dreamliner is a separate cabin from Economy or Business Class. The seats in Economy are narrower than they were on the airbus, so that's another reason to upgrade to Premium Economy. Business class is out of our price range if we have to pay for it.

I expect this to be our last PG cruise since we've already done the Tuamotus, Marquesas, and Cook Island, and will be doing the cruise to Fiji in September. We spent a week on Bora Bora and on a week in Moorea in overwater bungalows 25 years ago, and found the Paul Gauguin to be more economical, and still totally enjoyable. But there are other places in the world to see, and Regent includes Business class airfare with their cruises.

There was no premium economy on the airbus. We absolutely hated their economy “free”air, and did come back in business which was excellent. I guess it is all what works for you. If we were on the dreamliner the PE would have been fine. I actually like those seats better than the lie flat ones..

[SWFLAOK]

On the flights back from PPT,  which all seem to leave between 11 PM and 12 AM, I would definitely have liked a lay flat seat. After arriving at LAX on those late night PPT flights,  getting back to Florida from LAX on a direct flight means a red eye, and not in business class for us. We rent a large comfortable SUV and find something to do during the afternoon, then head to the airport in the evening. Our flight back to Florida doesn't have anything other than extra leg room, so we take that. We haven't found any convenient and comfortable way to get to and from LAX from South Florida. If anyone has suggestions ...

[Hutchinj]

SW, we're from Orlando so I hear you on the pain of travel between Florida and LAX. Especially on the return trip. Not fun!