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French Polynesia is one of those few places in the world that is truly just as magical in person as in photos. From the crystal blue water and white sand beaches to the lush green mountains, it’s about as close to paradise as you can get. And getting there is surprisingly easier (and cheaper) than you might think when using airline miles.
Being situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean — just a bit south of Hawaii — makes Tahiti a much more accessible destination to get to when coming from the U.S., especially compared to somewhere like the Maldives.
Multiple airlines offer non-stop flights directly from major U.S. airports flying into Faa’a International Airport (PPT) in Papeete — the main hub on the island of Tahiti. From there, you can catch a ferry or a small flight to other islands, such as Raiatea, Mo’orea, or the dream destination of Bora Bora.
Whether you’re looking to book a dream honeymoon or just need a tropical getaway, French Polynesia is a perfect destination. Read on for how to get to Tahiti using points and miles in order to save money that could be better spent elsewhere (like maybe on one of those amazing overwater villas!).
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Bookable Flights Between the U.S. And Tahiti
A handful of airlines serve Papeete (PPT), but only a few do so from U.S. airports. Presently, you can book flights to and from Tahiti from the following points of origin:
- Honolulu (HNL) to Tahiti on Hawaiian Airlines
- Los Angeles (LAX) to Tahition Air France and Air Tahiti Nui
- San Francisco (SFO) to Tahiti on United Airlines
- Seattle (SEA) to Tahiti on Air Tahiti Nui
Better yet, you can leverage transferable rewards and airline alliances and partnerships to book these flights with miles — and often for great value.
Best Programs for Booking Award Flights to Tahiti
Of these routes, the best options for using points and miles are the flights operated by Air France, Air Tahiti Nui, and United.
Hawaiian Airlines' route from Honolulu is a viable option, but award availability is harder to come by — especially in business class. Plus, if you're not already located in Hawaii, you'll first have to book a flight from the continental United States.
That said, there is a decent redemption option from Honolulu to Tahiti via JetBlue. You'll only have to pay 20,000 TrueBlue points (plus nominal taxes and fees) for a non-stop economy flight from Honolulu to Tahiti. In other words, you might find value in combining a trip to Hawaii and Tahiti.
Related: The Best Points and Miles for Free Flights to Hawaii
Air Canada Aeroplan
As a function of both cost and ease with which you can earn miles, Air Canada Aeroplan is one of the best programs for booking flights to Tahiti. Air Canada belongs to Star Alliance, so you can use Aeroplan points to book flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Papeete (PPT) on United Airlines.
Awards cost just 35,000 points in economy or 55,000 points in business class — though the latter is hard to find.
If you need to top off your Aeroplan account, the following currencies transfer to Air Canada:
Related: All About the 49 Airlines You Can Book Using Aeroplan Points
Air France/KLM Flying Blue
Air France operates flights to Tahiti from Los Angeles (LAX), and you can book tickets on this flight through the Flying Blue program. If you can find availability, you can book these awards for just 27,500 miles in economy, 40,000 miles in premium economy, or 89,000 miles in business class.
You can alternatively book these awards through partner programs like Delta SkyMiles and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, but the pricing is far higher than you'll find with Flying Blue. Moreover, Flying Blue miles are easy to earn via several transfer partners, so this should be your go-to option if you want to fly Air France to Tahiti.
For reference, you can initiate a transfer to Flying Blue from the following programs:
Better yet, award availability for Air France flights to Tahiti is decent, but you’ll want to still plan ahead if possible. The best availability is six to nine months before departure or closer to the last minute (book around a month in advance). Use the Flying Blue award calendar to get a bird's eye view of all available space!
Related: Air France/KLM Flying Blue Award Sweet Spots
All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club
ANA has some great sweet spots, but unfortunately, earning ANA miles isn’t as easy as many of the other programs. American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy are the only transfer partners. But perhaps even more restrictive is that you can only book round-trip award flights on ANA. And ANA passes along hefty fuel surcharges — even on United Airlines.
With that said, the mileage cost is pretty desirable. You can fly United to Tahiti for only 75,000 miles round-trip in economy and 120,000 miles round-trip in business class.
Related: How To Find Airline Partner Award Flight Availability
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Leveraging Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is one of the best ways to book flights on Air Tahiti Nui. On nonstop flights from Los Angeles or Seattle to Tahiti, the pricing is extremely favorable at only 30,000 miles each way for economy and 60,000 miles for business class.
However, if you add a connection or originate from a non-West Coast airport, you'll likely fall into Mileage Plan's next-highest distance band, which will make your award more expensive. In that case, you might find value in booking a positioning flight to take advantage of cheaper pricing.
Generally speaking, Alaska miles aren’t the easiest to earn, but thanks to a partnership between Bilt and Alaska, you can transfer Bilt Rewards Points to Alaska Airlines 1:1. Marriott Bonvoy also offers transfers to Mileage Plan at a 3:1 ratio and will tack on a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points you transfer.
American Airlines AAdvantage®
Using American Airlines is the second best option after Alaska. AAdvantage charges a bit more points for the same Air Tahiti Nui flights (40,000 miles for economy, 80,000 miles for business), and American miles are also not always easy to earn.
Unfortunately, AA's transfer partnership with Bilt ended in June 2024. Now, you can only earn AAdvantage miles by flying, with co-branded credit cards, using the AA shopping portal, leveraging AAdvantage Dining, or converting from Marriott Bonvoy (sadly with no bonus for transferring at least 60k points).
Undoubtedly, one of the best ways to earn a large amount of both American Airlines miles is from credit card sign-up bonuses. For example, as a new applicant for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®, you can earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
With these perks, it's easy to justify the annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months.
- Free checked bags for you and up to 4 companions on domestic itineraries
- Priority boarding to help you win the race for overhead bin space
- A 25% discount on inflight food, beverage, and Wi-Fi purchases
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at restaurants
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at gas stations
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Related: How To Use AA Miles To Get to Oceania and the South Pacific
Avianca LifeMiles
Avianca has a ton of sweet spots and is definitely a viable option for booking flights to Tahiti on United. Although it charges more points for award flights than other programs (especially for business class), its taxes and fees are very reasonable (around $50 or less per way), and availability is quite decent. Moreover, the rates you'll find are almost always less than what United MileagePlus will charge.
The LifeMiles website isn’t the most user friendly, but once you find availability on Air Canada or on United, you can search Avianca for a specific date.
Better yet, Avianca has several transfer partners, so it's easy to amass LifeMiles quickly.
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qantas is another outlier but it is a surprisingly decent option. The program charges only 25,200 miles for economy Air Tahiti Nui flights and 68,400 miles for business class. Availability is pretty scarce, though, and it does charge up to $200 in taxes and fees per way.
However, Qantas has a handful of transfer partners and is a great option if you're unable to earn enough Alaska Airlines or American Airlines miles.
Availability for Air Tahiti Nui flights is pretty good, but you’ll want to still plan ahead if possible. The best availability comes between six and nine months before departure or around a few weeks in advance.
How I Used Points and Miles To Book Flights to Tahiti
I recently booked a trip to Tahiti and thought I’d give you some insight into how I booked it using all the information above.
This was a bit of a last-minute trip, so I knew it’d be best to wait until about 1-2 months before departure to start checking for award availability to open up. The first flight I could find was from San Francisco to Papeete on United. I booked a business class seat on this flight for 55,000 miles on Air Canada Aeroplan and paid about $56 in taxes and fees.
I scored a great deal on the return flight by taking advantage of a Bilt Rent Day transfer bonus. Knowing I wanted to find an Air Tahiti Nui seat, I transferred 48,000 Bilt Rewards Points to Alaska Mileage Plan and got a 25% bonus, totaling 60,000 miles. A few weeks later, I found award availability for a flight from Tahiti to Los Angeles on Air Tahiti Nui, and I booked a business class seat using 60,000 Alaska miles.
Since I’m based in Atlanta, I bought a cheap $100 economy ticket from my home airport to San Francisco and then used 20,000 Delta miles for my flight back from Los Angeles to Atlanta.
All told, I spent 103,000 miles and $125 on round-trip business class seats to Tahiti, plus an additional 20,000 miles and $106 in taxes and fees on domestic economy flights.
Final Thoughts
Overall, there are multiple great ways to get from the U.S. to Tahiti using points and miles, and they're absolutely worth taking advantage of! Flights and available redemptions are constantly changing, and what may be wide open right now could be nonexistent next month, or even next week. Don’t hoard your points; jump on the opportunity for a bucket list tropical getaway while you can!
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