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Air Tahiti Nui flies directly to two U.S. gateways from its hub in Papeete (PPT): Los Angeles (LAX) and Seattle (SEA). And if you've dreamed of visiting the Tahitian islands using points and miles, now is the time to act. We're seeing some rare award availability in business and premium economy, plus evergreen space in economy.
Here are the details on this rare Air Tahiti Nui award space and what points and miles you need to secure a seat for yourself.
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Overview of Air Tahiti Nui Award Availability
Here's a preview of the dates we're seeing award availability to and from Papeete, Tahiti (PPT) on Air Tahiti Nui.
Los Angeles (LAX) to Papeete, Tahiti (PPT)
Air Tahiti Nui flies from LAX to PPT daily. The dates below highlight where we see business class availability:
- July 2024: 15
- August 2024: 3 , 6, 9, 10
- November 2024: 6
- April 2025: 27
- May 2025: 4, 18
- June 2025: 8
Premium economy availability is much better. Here's a look at bookable dates:
- July 2024: 12-13, 15-17, 25, 27
- August 2024: 10, 14-15, 17, 19-21, 24, 26-28
- September 2024: 26
- October 2024: 9, 10, 12-13, 28, 29
- November 2024: 5, 9, 15-17, 20-21, 23, 25, 30
- December 2024: 3, 6-8, 15, 29, 31
- January 2025: 17-18, 25-26, 28
- February 2025: 4, 7-9, 16, 18, 22, 28
- March 2025: 1-2, 4, 8-11, 14-16, 18, 22-23, 25, 28-30
- April 2025: 13, 15, 18-20, 25-29
- May 2025: 2-4, 9-10, 13, 16-18, 24-25, 30-31
- June 2025: 1, 3, 6-8
Papeete, Tahiti (PPT) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Air Tahiti Nui flies from PPT to LAX nearly every day of the week. The airline doesn't fly this route on Tuesdays. Here's a look at business class availability:
- July 2024: 15, 24
- August 2024: 12
- November 2024: 15
- December 2024: 21
- January 2025: 10
- February 2025: 1, 3, 14, 24
- March 2025: 1, 12, 22, 24
Premium economy availability is slightly better. Here's a snapshot of the availability:
- July 2024: 12-13, 15, 17-18, 20, 21-22, 24, 28-29, 30
- August 2024: 1, 7, 10, 14, 17
- September 2024: 2, 8, 16, 29
- October 2024: 2, 21
- November 2024: 4, 7, 13-14, 16-17, 23-24, 27-28
- December 2024: 1, 5, 7, 8, 18
- January 2025: 8, 10-11, 13, 15, 17-18, 21-22, 24-25, 29
- February 2025: 3, 7-8, 10, 12, 14, 19, 21, 28
- March 2025: 1, 3, 5, 12, 14-15, 19, 21-22, 24, 26, 28
- April 2025: 2, 4-5, 11, 14, 16, 18, 21, 25-26, 28, 30
- May 2025: 2-4, 5, 7, 9-10, 14, 16-17, 19, 23, 28, 30-31
- June 2025: 2, 4, 6-7
Seattle (SEA) to Papeete, Tahiti (PPT)
Air Tahiti Nui flies from Seattle to Papeete on Thursdays and Sundays. Here's what business class availability looks like on this route:
- August 2024: 4, 15
- November 2024: 7
- April 2025: 27
And here's a snapshot of premium economy award availability:
- July 2024: 14, 18, 21, 25, 28
- August 2024: 1, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25, 29
- September 2024: 22
- October 2024: 10, 13
- November 2024: 17, 21, 24, 28
- December 2024: 1, 8
Papeete, Tahiti (PPT) to Seattle (SEA)
Air Tahiti Nui flies from Seattle to Papeete on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Here's what business class availability looks like on this route:
- July 2024: 23, 26
- August 2024: 6, 8
And here's a snapshot of premium economy award availability:
- July 2024: 16, 19, 23, 26, 30
- August 2024: 2, 6, 9, 13, 16, 27, 30
- September 2024: 10, 13, 17, 20, 24
- October 2024: 4, 8, 18
- November 2024: 12, 15, 19, 29
- December 2024: 3, 6
How To Book Air Tahiti Nui Award Flights
Air Tahiti Nui isn't part of any major airline alliance. Instead, it has a long-standing partnership with both American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Thus, you can use American Airlines AAdvantage® miles and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles to book Air Tahiti Nui awards.
Alaska Mileage Plan
If you've got a stash of Alaska Airlines miles, traveling to Tahiti is a great way to redeem them. Alaska adopted new region- and distance-based award charts recently, so the price you'll pay depends on how far you plan to travel.
For example, itineraries between 3,001 and 5,000 miles in total distance will cost 30,000 miles in economy, 40,000 in premium economy, or 60,000 miles in business class. The direct flights from both Los Angeles and Seattle to Papeete fall into this distance band.
You aren't limited to just booking nonstop Air Tahiti Nui flights. Alaska Mileage Plan allows connections within the U.S. for no additional mileage, provided you don't jump to the next-highest distance band.
If you end up needing to connect to LAX or SEA to take your flight to PPT, you'll likely pay 37,500 miles in economy, 50,000 in premium economy, or 75,000 in business class. This pricing covers itineraries ranging from 5,001 to 7,000 miles in total distance.
If you need to stock up on Alaska miles to book an Air Tahiti Nui award, the best way to accrue miles quickly is to initiate a 1:1 transfer from Bilt Rewards. Or, if you want to plan ahead for the next drop of award space, consider adding the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card or Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card to your wallet and earning a big sign-up bonus.
- LIMITED TIME ONLINE OFFER-60,000 Bonus Miles + a 30% Flight Discount Code!
- Receive a 30% flight discount code for a qualifying future flight after opening your new account. Additionally, earn 60,000 bonus miles plus Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) after making $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
- Get Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) each account anniversary after you spend $6,000 or more on purchases within the prior anniversary year. Valid on all Alaska Airlines flights booked on alaskaair.com.
- Earn unlimited 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases. Earn unlimited 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, EV charging station, cable, streaming services and local transit (including ride share) purchases. And earn unlimited 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases. And, your miles don't expire on active accounts.
- Earn a 10% rewards bonus on all miles earned from card purchases if you have an eligible Bank of America® account.
- Free checked bag and enjoy priority boarding for you and up to 6 guests on the same reservation, when you pay for your flight with your card - Also available for authorized users when they book a reservation too!
- With oneworld® Alliance member airlines and Alaska's Global Partners, Alaska has expanded their global reach to over 1,000 destinations worldwide bringing more airline partners and more ways to earn and redeem miles.
- Plus, no foreign transaction fees and a low $95 annual fee.
- This online only offer may not be available elsewhere if you leave this page. You can take advantage of this offer when you apply now.
- Earn unlimited 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases
- Earn unlimited 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, EV charging stations, cable, streaming services and local transit (including ride share) purchases
- Earn unlimited 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other eligible purchases
American Airlines AAdvantage®
You can also book Air Tahiti Nui awards through the American Airlines AAdvantage program. The mileage rates are a bit higher than Alaska's. One-way award flights between the continental U.S. and Tahiti cost:
- Economy: 40,000 AAdvantage miles.
- Premium: 65,000 AAdvantage miles.
- Business: 80,000 AAdvantage miles.
The main advantage of booking through American Airlines is the ability to connect domestically on American, Alaska, or both to get to the Air Tahiti Nui flight.
Also, you can connect through Tahiti on the way to other Air Tahiti Nui destinations — such as Auckland, New Zealand. As Auckland is also part of the same “South Pacific” region as Tahiti, awards won't cost any additional miles. However, you won't be able to book a stopover in Tahiti along the way.
Also, you'll need to call American Airlines to book these awards — as AA's website will automatically limit results to American Airlines flights to Auckland. Here's the best AAdvantage partner award booking workaround if you run into this issue.
And if you need to earn American miles quickly, consider adding the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® to your arsenal. You can earn 70,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after making your first purchase and paying the annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days.
- Get $25 back as statement credits on inflight WiFi on American Airlines operated flights.
- Receive 25% inflight savings when you use your card for food and beverages on American Airlines operated flights.
- Earn a companion certificate each anniversary year, good for 1 guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees) if you spend $20,000 on purchases and your account remains open for 45 days after your anniversary date.
- Earn 2X miles on American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1X miles on all other purchases
Unfortunately, American Airlines isn't a transfer partner of any major transferable rewards program outside of Marriott Bonvoy, so your options to collect miles outside of flying or through credit cards are limited.
Other Award Options to Tahiti
Don't have American or Alaska miles? You can also book award flights to Tahiti on Delta's route to Papeete. You can book these flights for as little as 66,000 SkyMiles round-trip nonstop in economy:
Or, you can book other cities around the U.S. through Los Angeles to Tahiti such as from Denver (DEN) for as little as 74,000 SkyMiles round-trip:
Comfort+ (Delta's term for extra-legroom economy) costs just a few more miles round-trip. Snagging extra-legroom seats on these long flights is certainly worth 8,000 more SkyMiles round-trip. However, premium cabins aren't nearly as affordable as American or Alaska awards on Air Tahiti Nui.
Short of SkyMiles? You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Delta SkyMiles at a 1:1 transfer ratio. And transfers are typically immediate.
Onward Flights from Tahiti
If you haven't visited French Polynesia before, you might be surprised to find that Papeete is just the launching point for all that French Polynesia has to offer. You can take a short ferry from Papeete to Moorea. There you can stay at the incredible Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa.
However, you won't want to take the ferry all the way out to Bora Bora. Instead, you'll need to fly Air Tahiti — a very similarly named, but different airline from Air Tahiti Nui — between Papeete and Bora Bora. Unfortunately, these flights can't be booked with airline miles and the flights aren't cheap.
Consider booking an Air Tahiti Multi-Island Pass instead. This pass doesn't cost much more than just booking flights to Bora Bora, and you can use it to visit other incredible islands in French Polynesia. I particularly enjoyed Huahine and Maupiti during my trip in May 2019.
Bottom Line
Air Tahiti Nui's partnerships with American Airlines and Alaska offer some great award flight opportunities. Available flights change constantly, even by the hour I observed while I wrote this post. The dates above probably won't be available for long, but new dates will open up, and the award redemption value will stay the same.
In other words, you should jump on this premium economy and business class award space while it's still around! And don't forget to use a credit card offering travel insurance when you pay your award taxes and fees.
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