Question re: Airfare for Tahiti/Ocean Princess

[cruzegirl]

I really tried to decide just where to ask this question and thought I'd try here.

Of those that have gone to Papeete in the last 6 months or going in the next 6 months, are there any daytime flights from LAX to Papeete? I'm looking now for Feb. 2014 and all I see are nighttime/red eye flights. When we went in 2008, they had daytime flights so this is surprising to me. Please share your info.

Thank you

[toberman]

Can't answer your question (wish I could), but you will probably get better responses on the Cruise Air board, or Pacific Islands board. You could also try the roll call for your cruise. Good Luck.

[firefall]

Just booked my air for March '14. When I booked TN 1 was a 1:00pm flight (I was so happy) but it has changed to 3:30pm...darn! So, yes there are daytime flights BUT it depends on the day. I think only Thursday and Sunday have a daytime flight from LAX.

 

Sunday 3:30PM

Thursday 3:50PM

 

Crazy, huh?

 

K

[DrivesLikeMario]

Yes, they do have some. I know there's a 7:55am flight on some Saturdays.

 

It's very easy to pull up the schedule on the AirTahitiNui.com website. Also, Air France has some flights as well. American Airlines will list the flights but they are actually Air Tahiti Nui flights.

 

If you plan to go with their brand-new reconfiguration on ATN, then you'll want to check out Seatguru.com before hand to choose the best seats. I recently spoke with them and they said they'll have the new configuration for ATN up soon (if it isn't already).

 

The Bus. Class looks pretty good. It's cheaper for us to go directly thru ATN than through the cruise line, so you might want to compare prices before booking it.

[cruzegirl]

Just booked my air for March '14. When I booked TN 1 was a 1:00pm flight (I was so happy) but it has changed to 3:30pm...darn! So, yes there are daytime flights BUT it depends on the day. I think only Thursday and Sunday have a daytime flight from LAX.

 

Sunday 3:30PM

Thursday 3:50PM

 

Crazy, huh?

 

K

 

 

Yes, it is crazy. lol. I don't understand all the red eyes. We all need to fly on a Wednesday and there doesn't seem to be any daytime flights. Kind of stinks.

[cruzegirl]

Yes, they do have some. I know there's a 7:55am flight on some Saturdays.

 

It's very easy to pull up the schedule on the AirTahitiNui.com website. Also, Air France has some flights as well. American Airlines will list the flights but they are actually Air Tahiti Nui flights.

 

If you plan to go with their brand-new reconfiguration on ATN, then you'll want to check out Seatguru.com before hand to choose the best seats. I recently spoke with them and they said they'll have the new configuration for ATN up soon (if it isn't already).

 

The Bus. Class looks pretty good. It's cheaper for us to go directly thru ATN than through the cruise line, so you might want to compare prices before booking it.

 

 

How do you pull up the flight schedules? I can go on ATN and put in dates and such but not sure how to pull up when they have flights.

[firefall]

http://www.airtahitinui-usa.com/flightsched/flightschedules.asp

 

Put in your dates and a graph comes up. The orange flowers are the flights on specific days of the week. There's an arrow on the top to scroll to week past or week ahead. (The 7:55 one is from PPT to LAX)

 

Look at it this way. I booked 2 nights at the IC and I don't get in till 9:30PM. If I had booked the red-eye I would have had ALL day on day 1 to enjoy the resort :D

 

Kathy

[jagoffee]

Yes, it is crazy. lol. I don't understand all the red eyes. We all need to fly on a Wednesday and there doesn't seem to be any daytime flights. Kind of stinks.

 

As other have said you can find a few flights a week that arrive at PPT in the morning which I like better as well. It may have more to do with the returns late at night. Although the "red eyes" are flying at night from LAX it is really flying during the PPT day. If the flights come into PPT they can turn around and return almost immediately and arrive at LAX in the morning. It is also easier for connecting flights into PPt as well as LAX. I suspect these are the main reasons.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I think it also has to do with re-fueling. Once they arrive in PPT around 6am, they have to re-fuel, clean the plane, restock the supplies, etc. and things just don't move as fast there as they do on the mainland US. Maybe it has to do with mandatory down time for the crew between flights too.

 

I really wish they had a 1pm flight out - you'd think that would be enough time to get the planes ready again. I don't like the idea of having to wait all day and evening long to get on a 10pm flight out. We either have to get late check-out at the hotel and then still have a few hours to kill after that or leave directly from the ship and find something to do for 14 hrs. and get on the plane all sweaty and gross. I've looked into day-use hotel rooms and with the language barrier with the concierges, it's been tough to figure it out.

[cruzegirl]

I know when we went last time, we had a 1pm flight to Tahiti. It arrived around 8pm or 9pm local time. And they did just as others mentioned. Turned the plane around, stocked it, etc... and then it did the red eye back to LAX. It was so easy. I'm not a person that does red eyes well. I don't sleep well and then especially on a plane, I usually end of sick. So not my favorite thing but I'll triple up on the Vitamin C. lol.

On the ship last time, they let us stay until late afternoon. We then used the showers in the Spa and went to the airport. Worked out very well.

[caribill]

I don't like the idea of having to wait all day and evening long to get on a 10pm flight out. We either have to get late check-out at the hotel and then still have a few hours to kill after that or leave directly from the ship and find something to do for 14 hrs.

 

You will need to be out of your cabin by the usual 8 AM, but Princess lets you stay on the ship as late as 5 PM with access to all the ship's amenities from meals to pools. There will be a place you can leave hand luggage for the time you stay on the ship that day. Your regular luggage will be available on shore when it is time to leave. You can schedule a Princess xfer to the airport in late afternoom if you wish.

 

Princess also offers shore excursions that day. In fact, one of the best shore excursions we ever had was on disembarkation day in Papeete.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Good to know about the shore excursion, thanks Caribill.

 

Here is info. I just received from Air Tahiti Nui:

 

This new schedule has several major changes from what has been traditionally offered. These changes should be beneficial to your clients and our destinations. The major points are:

 

• LAX-PPT – Evening departures from LAX in the 2300 time bracket every day except Thursday, arriving Tahiti early the next morning. Perfect for connections into LAX from across the US and Canada and from Papeete to the Islands.

 

• LAX-PPT – July and August peak season will feature 14 flights per week LAX-PPT, including evening departures every day, ten times per week, in the 2300 time bracket and four day flights, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, leaving LAX at 1530. This is the most capacity ever dedicated to the North American market and will make travel in the peak summer season easier than ever before.

 

• PPT-LAX – Terminating flights from Papeete to LAX will continue to operate in the traditional time period of the 2300 bracket and arriving LAX at 10:00 AM- 10:35 AM.

 

• PPT-LAX-CDG – flights will now operate from Tahiti to LAX in the morning, leaving Papeete at 0745 and arriving LAX at 1855.

 

 

This totally screws up our plans of flying out on Thursday night. What a bummer!

[caribill]

Good to know about the shore excursion, thanks.

 

 

You can see pictures from that excursion at http://fp.caribill.com/ and click on the "Tahiti" link.