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Redeeming miles to French Polynesia can be challenging. The main island of Tahiti is the home of the Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT). International flights must go through Tahiti before connecting to French Polynesia islands, such as Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine, etc.
Air Tahiti Nui flies the 787 Dreamliner daily round-trip between Los Angeles and Tahiti. The flight time is around 8 and half hours each way.
Alaska Airlines charges the following between North America and Tahiti. Taxes and fees are also reasonably low:
To book the award ticket with the free stopover in Tahiti, you have to search the flights using the multi-city functionality.
- You can now redeem Alaska miles on Air Tahiti Nui.
Redeeming miles to French Polynesia can be challenging. The main island of Tahiti is the home of the Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT). International flights must go through Tahiti before connecting to French Polynesia islands, such as Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine, etc.
At this time, these airlines are flying to Tahiti: Air Tahiti Nui, Air France, United Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and the low-cost carrier French Bee.
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| Air France AF077 Business Class Tahiti Papeete Faaa (PPT) to Los Angeles (LAX) |
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Best Mileage & Points Programs for Flying to Tahiti
Below are airline miles programs that you can redeem for flights to Tahiti.
American Airlines
Air Tahiti Nui flies the 787 Dreamliner daily round-trip between Los Angeles and Tahiti. The flight time is around 8 and half hours each way. American Airlines has an exclusive partnership with Air Tahiti Nui which means that you can use American Airlines AAdvantage miles program to book award tickets on Air Tahiti Nui flights.
| Class of Service | Miles Needed (One-way) | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 40,000 | $5.60 (LAX-PPT) $49.65 (PPT-LAX) |
| Premium Economy | 65,000 | $5.60 (LAX-PPT) $49.65 (PPT-LAX) |
| Business | 80,000 | $5.60 (LAX-PPT) $49.65 (PPT-LAX) |
How to Search & Book
You can search and book directly on the American Airlines website. American Airlines has an award calendar in their search tool, making it super convenient to see which date has available flights using miles in all classes of service. Do keep in mind that a business class award on Air Tahiti Nui is rare to come across, but it is not impossible.Editor's Note: Air Tahiti Nui also partners with Qantas. We used to be able to book Air Tahiti Nui flight using Qantas Classic Rewards on Qantas website. However, it appears that Qantas now has disabled this type of redemption on their website from LAX to PPT. It is still possible to book PPT-LAX or round-trip though. It may be worth calling up Qantas to see if the agent can search and book it on the phone if you want to use Qantas miles. Taxes and fees are low when we booked it.
Air France/KLM Flying Blue
Air France operates non-stop flights 3 times weekly between Los Angeles and Tahiti. You can use Air France KLM Flying Blue miles to book these flights. Unfortunately, the Flying Blue program does not have an award chart anymore. They decided to go with a dynamic award pricing model, so you'll need to perform the search to determine how many miles are needed based on your travel dates. The key here is to be flexible with your travel dates.| Class of Service | Miles Needed (One-way) | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | From 25,500 | Around $64.58 (LAX-PPT) Around $104.21 (PPT-LAX) |
| Premium Economy | From 51,000 | Around $64.58 (LAX-PPT) Around $104.21 (PPT-LAX) |
| Business | From 64,000 | Around $206.23 (LAX-PPT) Around $245.86 (PPT-LAX) |
How to Search & Book
You can search for availability and book these flights directly on the Flying Blue website.Editor's Note: While Delta Air Lines partners with Air France KLM, currently it is not possible to search and book this specific Air France LAX-PPT route on Delta's website. If you really want to use Delta miles to redeem, try calling Delta and see if they can book.
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Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines now partners with Air Tahiti Nui, and the redemption rates using the Alaska Airlines miles are really good. Especially Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program allows a free stopover without incurring more miles. For example, you can fly from Seattle to Tahiti, stop for a few days/weeks, then continue on to New Zealand for the same 80,000 miles if you book from Seattle to Tahiti to New Zealand without a stopover on Air Tahiti Nui.
| Class of Service | Miles Needed (One-way) | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 30,000 (Free Stopover) | $19 (North America-PPT) $74 (PPT-North America) |
| Premium Economy | 45,000 (Free Stopover) | $19 (North America-PPT) $74 (PPT-North America) |
| Business | 60,000 (Free Stopover) | $19 (North America-PPT) $74 (PPT-North America) |
How to Search & Book
You can search and book these award tickets on the Alaska Airlines website. Alaska Airlines has an award calendar when you click the "all search options" and select Award calendar.To book the award ticket with the free stopover in Tahiti, you have to search the flights using the multi-city functionality.
United Airlines
United Airlines flies non-stop 3 times weekly between San Fransisco and Tahiti. United operates a 787 Dreamliner on this route and the flight time takes around 8 and half hours.You can use United's own MileagePlus program to redeem for United flights. However, United decided to go with a dynamic award pricing model. Therefore, be flexible on your dates to score an award ticket at a saver level that requires lesser miles for redemption. For saver awards, United charges the following:
United Airlines is part of the Star Alliance; this opens up a few other redemption options using other Star Alliance member airlines' frequent flyer miles to book United flights.
For more information, you can read this post Using JetBlue TrueBlue Points on Hawaiian Airlines to Tahiti, but watch out for the missing ticket numbers. Lessons Learned: Booking Flights Using Airline Partner Miles & Double-checking Ticket Numbers.
Speaking of the cost of the tickets, French Bee is a low-cost carrier that flies non-stop 2 to 3 times weekly between San Francisco and Tahiti. This low-cost airline does not have ways to redeem miles for their flights, but you can potentially use credit card points to pay for the cost of their already deep discounted tickets.
| Class of Service | Miles Needed (One-way) | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | Dynamic Award Starting at 35,000 | $5.60 (LAX-PPT) $49.65 (PPT-LAX) |
| Business | Dynamic Award Starting at 70,000 |
$5.60 (LAX-PPT) $49.65 (PPT-LAX) |
How to Search & Book
You can search and book these award tickets on the United website. United's lowest saver award ticket in the economy class is easy to find, but the business saver award is almost impossible.United Airlines is part of the Star Alliance; this opens up a few other redemption options using other Star Alliance member airlines' frequent flyer miles to book United flights.
Air Canada Aeroplan
Within the Star Alliance, you can use Aeroplan miles to book United-operated flights, including San Francisco to Tahiti route. The good news is Aeroplan does not impose high taxes and fees on United flights, but they charge more miles than United does and| Class of Service | Miles Needed (One-way) | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 35,000 | CAD 47 (SFO-PPT) CAD 104 (PPT-SFO) |
| Business | 55,000 | CAD 47 (LAX-PPT) CAD 104 (PPT-SFO) |
How to Search & Book
You can search and book directly on the Aeroplan website.Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines is also a member of Star Alliance. They have revamped their online booking to allow searching and booking most Star Alliance flights, so you can use Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles to book United-operated flights between San Francisco and Tahiti. Singapore Airlines charges much higher miles than both Aeroplan and United, though.| Class of Service | Miles Needed (One-way) | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 60,000 | $5.60 (LAX-PPT) $49.65 (PPT-LAX) |
| Business | 117,000 | $5.60 (LAX-PPT) $49.65 (PPT-LAX) |
How to Search & Book
Search and book directly on the Singapore Airlines website.Hawaiian Airlines
Depending on the season, Hawaiian Airlines flies 1 to 2 times weekly between Honolulu and Tahiti. We took this route in economy class and really liked it because the seats in the economy cabin are arranged in 2-4-2, so the 2 seats are perfect for couples sitting together. Hawaiian Airlines is also implementing dynamic award pricing, but they still published an award chart that shows the minimum and maximum miles needed for redemption.| Class of Service | Miles Needed (One-way) | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | From 27,500 | $6 (LAX-PPT) $50 (PPT-LAX) |
| Business/First | From 47,500 | $6 (LAX-PPT) $50 (PPT-LAX) |
Editor's Note: If you hold one of the Hawaiian Airlines credit cards (personal or business), you receive exclusive flight award discount for economy class of service. That brings down the miles needed for a saver award between HNL-PPT to just 24,750 miles each way.
How to Search & Book:
You can search availability and book directly on the Hawaiian Airlines website.JetBlue TrueBlue
Thanks to the partnership between JetBlue and Hawaiian Airlines, you can use TrueBlue points to redeem for Hawaiian flights between Honolulu and Tahiti. Taxes and fees are pretty much the same as what Hawaiian airlines charges. JetBlue does not have an award chart for their flights; however, they have an award chart for Hawaiian Airlines.| Class of Service | Miles Needed (One-way) | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 30,000 | $6 (LAX-PPT) $50 (PPT-LAX) |
| Business/First | 70,000 | $6 (LAX-PPT) $50 (PPT-LAX) |
How to Search & Book:
You cannot search the award availability of Hawaiian flights on the JetBlue website, but you can use the Hawaiian Airlines website to search. As long as there's a saver award flight available on the Hawaiian website, JetBlue should be able to see that same flight. To book, call JetBlue at 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583) and follow the prompts to get to the TrueBlue department. Feed the agent with the flight information and book directly with the agent.For more information, you can read this post Using JetBlue TrueBlue Points on Hawaiian Airlines to Tahiti, but watch out for the missing ticket numbers. Lessons Learned: Booking Flights Using Airline Partner Miles & Double-checking Ticket Numbers.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hawaiian Airlines also partners with Virgin Atlantic. You can also use Flying Club miles to book Hawaiian flights between Honolulu and Tahiti, and Virgin Atlantic does have an award chart specifically for Hawaiian flight redemption. Taxes and fees are low.| Class of Service | Miles Needed (One-way) | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 27,500 | $6 (LAX-PPT) $50 (PPT-LAX) |
| Business/First | 47,500 | $6 (LAX-PPT) $50 (PPT-LAX) |
How to Search & Book
You cannot search Hawaiian flights on the Virgin Atlantic website. Instead, you need to use the Hawaiian Airlines website to search. As long as a saver award flight is available on the Hawaiian website, you should also be able to book the flight with Virgin Atlantic. To do so, call the Flying Club number at 1-800-365-9500 and provide the agent with the flight information you found on the Hawaiian website. UPDATES: The texting method appears to be discontinued for now. Alternatively, you can also text Virgin Atlantic at 97634 from the US. They are generally very good at responding. This method, in fact, is our preferred method to use for checking award availability with Virgin Atlantic.Pay With Credit Card Points
If you do not want or cannot use airline miles to redeem for flights to Tahiti, sometimes it makes sense to see if the cost of the tickets is more affordable. Travel credit cards such as Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card, American Express Platinum Card, etc., allow card members to use rewards points to purchase a flight ticket through their travel portal sites. The American Express Business Platinum Card also offers a 35% Pay With Points Rebate Benefit for premium business and first-class tickets.Speaking of the cost of the tickets, French Bee is a low-cost carrier that flies non-stop 2 to 3 times weekly between San Francisco and Tahiti. This low-cost airline does not have ways to redeem miles for their flights, but you can potentially use credit card points to pay for the cost of their already deep discounted tickets.
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