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You can now redeem your Alaska Mileage Plan miles for awards on Air Tahiti Nui. The move comes in the wake of news in late March 2022 when both airlines announced a partnership. Initially, you could only earn Alaska miles when flying Air Tahiti Nui. But, now the award chart has been unveiled, you can redeem your miles as well.
Best of all, there's some great value to be found!
Routes to the South Pacific
The new award pricing between the U.S. and the South Pacific offers some excellent value. Awards between the U.S. and South Pacific are priced as follows:
- Economy awards are priced starting at 30,000 miles one way plus taxes and fees.
- Premium economy awards are priced starting at 45,000 miles one way, plus taxes and fees.
- Business-class awards are priced starting at 60,000 miles one way plus taxes and fees.
Once you arrive, there is some excellent value to be had traveling around the South Pacific award on Air Tahiti Nui. Awards around the South Pacific are priced as follows:
- Economy awards are priced at 17,500 miles one way plus taxes and fees.
- Premium economy awards are priced at 25,000 miles one way, plus taxes and fees.
- Business-class awards are priced at 35,000 miles one way plus taxes and fees.
Fifth Freedom to Europe
Routes between the U.S. and Europe are the most competitive in the world, and several international airlines operate fifth freedom routes between the U.S./North America and Europe. Emirates has flights between New York and Milan and Athens, while Singapore has routes between Frankfurt and New York and Manchester and Houston.
Air Tahiti Nui also offers a fifth freedom route between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). Awards on this flight are great value and are priced as follows:
- Economy awards are priced at 30,000 miles one way plus taxes and fees.
- Premium economy awards are priced at 45,000 miles one way, plus taxes and fees.
- Business-class awards are priced at 60,000 miles one way plus taxes and fees.
If you are looking to get to Europe from the east coast, these awards are terrific value and well worth keeping in the back of your mind the next time you book your travel.
How the Awards Stack Up
If you are looking to travel to the South Pacific from the U.S., then the new Alaska award chart stacks up very well against the competition. The main competitor for booking Air Tahiti Nui awards is using AAdvantage miles. In each case, American Airlines charges substantially more.
- Economy: 40,000 AAdvantage miles one way vs. Alaska’s 30,000 miles.
- Premium economy: 65,000 AAdvantage miles one way vs. Alaska’s 45,000 miles.
- Business class: 80,000 AAdvantage miles one way vs. Alaska’s 60,000 miles.
One thing to remember is that it is not only on pricing that Alaska beats AA for value. AA does not allow stopovers while Alaska does. So, if you are traveling elsewhere in the South Pacific, you can have a nice stopover in the airline hub Tahiti. And who doesn’t want a mini-break/stopover in Tahiti!
You can also book Ait Tahiti Nui awards using KLM/Air France Flying Blue. However, Flying Blue uses dynamic pricing and will rarely — if ever — provide a better value than Alaska Mileage Plan’s award pricing.
Reasons for caution
Keep in mind that there are some concerns. First, the pricing on the award chart is the starting price. So Alaska may have higher prices depending on how long your flights are. For instance, Alaska might start pricing New York to Tahiti awards more expensively than Vancouver to Tahiti. Or, Alaska might use a multi-tier pricing, as it's introduced with Qatar awards.
Also, Air Tahiti Nui award space can be hard to come by. Great award pricing is excellent news and to be welcomed. However, if there is rarely any award space, it is only good in theory.
Our Take
Any move that adds more options to use your miles is excellent news. The fact that Alaska's award pricing for Air Tahiti is super competitive, and you can head out from the U.S. to the South Pacific for as little as 60,000 miles in business class one way sweetens the deal even more. Overall this new addition is welcome and further strengthens Alaska Mileage Plan's position as our favorite airline loyalty program.
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Don’t see any business class availability. Which is also true on the AA website. After literally years of searching I snagged roundtrip business seats for a trip next April. That was an aberration. Air Tahiti seems to be very stingy with business class seats.