Jump to content

Advice please regarding flight options


DGK
 Share

Recommended Posts

We  booked our second trip on the PG 2021 ( lots of time, just starting some planning ). Our first trip we booked Air through PG . For 2021 we really prefer  P.E. seats and possibly have enough points. The current upgrade through PG for P.E. is out of our price range. ….Some options if you were us what would you do :

1. Book PE flights with AF , we will be doing a pre-cruise stay and would depart the ship last day extremely early for approx. 8AM flight. The early departure is no longer a concern as we will have the pre-cruise stay plus this cruise is longer than previous one. We realize AF P.E. seats are not as comfy as ATN . Our major concern is somewhere I read about possible A.F. Strike. We are not risk takers and curious regarding some of your expertise and comments please. This would be so stressful if a strike occurred. .. We really like this option for solving our day of departure dilemma without the cost of day room.

2. Book ATN PE on points and try and figure out a day room for day of departure, we can book the IC and transfer through PG at a huge cost. A day room is a must for us if we have an evening departure. Pre-cruise booked by TA,

3. Book ATN PE points and a short one night pre-cruise stay at IC through PG ( cheaper than post ) and do our previous planned pre-cruise now post cruise ( possible Hilton Moorea OWB or Vahine ).. This would solve the day of departure but think we would prefer doing the OWB pre-cruise as nothing compares to the service on PG which would be a beautiful way to end this special trip.

4. Book economy seats through PG for peace of mind. Not concerned regarding managing transfers just the unexpected  cancellation of a flight for this very special trip.

Any thoughts/ comments greatly appreciated

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, DGK said:

We  booked our second trip on the PG 2021 ( lots of time, just starting some planning ). Our first trip we booked Air through PG . For 2021 we really prefer  P.E. seats and possibly have enough points. The current upgrade through PG for P.E. is out of our price range. ….Some options if you were us what would you do :

1. Book PE flights with AF , we will be doing a pre-cruise stay and would depart the ship last day extremely early for approx. 8AM flight. The early departure is no longer a concern as we will have the pre-cruise stay plus this cruise is longer than previous one. We realize AF P.E. seats are not as comfy as ATN . Our major concern is somewhere I read about possible A.F. Strike. We are not risk takers and curious regarding some of your expertise and comments please. This would be so stressful if a strike occurred. .. We really like this option for solving our day of departure dilemma without the cost of day room.

2. Book ATN PE on points and try and figure out a day room for day of departure, we can book the IC and transfer through PG at a huge cost. A day room is a must for us if we have an evening departure. Pre-cruise booked by TA,

3. Book ATN PE points and a short one night pre-cruise stay at IC through PG ( cheaper than post ) and do our previous planned pre-cruise now post cruise ( possible Hilton Moorea OWB or Vahine ).. This would solve the day of departure but think we would prefer doing the OWB pre-cruise as nothing compares to the service on PG which would be a beautiful way to end this special trip.

4. Book economy seats through PG for peace of mind. Not concerned regarding managing transfers just the unexpected  cancellation of a flight for this very special trip.

Any thoughts/ comments greatly appreciated

 

 

Did you think of booking economy seats and then pay the extra for bulkhead/isle seats (more legroom).

 

Get to the airport early and see if there are reasonably priced PE upgrades. 

 

As your so far out on the trip there is no way of knowing about strikes. FYI   .... ATN has occasional strikes so no advantage over AF.  

 

A pre-stay is always nice so you can get on island time before hoping on the PG. 

Edited by Tahitianbigkahuna
Link to comment
Share on other sites

With either carrier run risk of strike, though  greater risk with AF. We did premium economy on AF last trip. They were on strike on way out and they chartered a Nigerian plane with Portuguese staff which was interesting to say the least. Also did not get PE as paid for...which, thanks to strict EU regulations, we were well compensated  for. On way home, strike was over and we found the PE seats and service to be good. We liked the scheduling of leaving ship early( need to have pg arrange for your taxi).  

Agree that pre cruise preferable, for many reasons.

All that said, would use the carrier/schedule you most prefer and cross fingers about potential strike as that is completely in knowable. 

If absolutely do not want to risk would look into United out of SFO. Happy planning!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you both  for your great comments and tips. .We agree with your suggestion  TBK regarding the pre stay and will eliminate option 3 .   It is reassuring to know Sita that even though there was a strike with AF you still managed to get to Tahiti  in economy and not your designated carrier. I hope the timing was similar for you so you didn't loose a night in paradise. I wasn't aware that the airlines provided that. We are a long way out and flights etc wont be available for awhile but 1/2 the fun is the planning and researching. This forum has been extremely helpful.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since you can apply those points to any airline, look at the connections through San Francisco, the flights have been really reasonable from the west coast to PPT recently, as low as $635 rt in standard economy on United. The upgrade to Economy plus is about $150 pp each way.  Depending on what major city you are closest to in Canada that Star Alliance connection might be worth looking into. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great suggestion Aururab, At the moment United doesn't fly the day we depart the ship which would mean an extra night in Tahiti , not too bad , Lots can change with their schedule as our flights wont be posted /available for 3-5 months. We will definitely consider.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just flew AF PE round trip LAX to PPT, and while we were able to get a great price, we were not at all impressed with the actual seats, the food or the service. We took the PG air credit of $1700 and for an additional $200 each we were able to book PE on Air France. We purchased at an opportune time, as PE seats were selling for considerably more a month later. The seats supposedly give you an extra 40% room, so I can only cringe at what the seating is in economy. The seats are within a plastic shell, and they "slide down" to give you the illusion of a recline, but in fact they do not recline. There are pull down foot rests, and they fit my wife, at 5'2" perfectly. At 5'11" I found them useless. The positive is that the seat in from of you does not recline into your space. They were hard, very uncomfortable, even for my 5'2" wife. The food was barely passable, on par with what US airlines were offering in economy before they quit offering food at all. Our restroom choice was to head to the back of the plane and que up for an economy toilet, we were not allowed to use business class facilities, and we had no special PE facilities. We did get priority boarding, 1 piece of extra checked luggage each, and the entertainment system and choices were excellent. For the price, it certainly beat basic economy on either AF or ATN, but not the experience we were hoping for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've taken the AF option twice, once in PE both directions, once in Biz going out (overnight), and PE returning.  We liked them just fine, although the seats are the type that rock back, not really recline.  I was afraid they might be too hard so I took a seat cushion the first time, but I found them fine.

 

And once coming back there was a strike threatened.  We didn't really know if our flight was going to depart until the morning when we woke up at our hotel.  Fortunately when we checked out the flight crew was checking out ahead of us so we knew the flight was a "go".  I believe also that they don't like their flight crews to get stuck in Tahiti.  

 

Taking AF means adjusting your stay, as you've figured out.  We've always had the flexibility to work around that, not everyone does, I understand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone, the advantage for us using Air France is the flight leaves early AM the day the day we depart the ship. Some may not like this but since we are doing a pre-cruise stay we don't mind leaving early on our last day. The big advantage is we don't have to figure out how to spend the day waiting for an evening flight home without the day room from PG. . I very much appreciate your comments and advice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 11/10/2019 at 10:06 PM, DGK said:

Thanks everyone, the advantage for us using Air France is the flight leaves early AM the day the day we depart the ship. Some may not like this but since we are doing a pre-cruise stay we don't mind leaving early on our last day. The big advantage is we don't have to figure out how to spend the day waiting for an evening flight home without the day room from PG. . I very much appreciate your comments and advice.

 

We booked AF in 2017.  They only fly every other day or so it may or may not fit depending on your schedule.  They red-eye over there getting in about 5am and leave from Tahiti at 7:30am.  I thought the flight was decent traveling in Economy with ok food and drinks and movies for entertainment.  

 

ATN is what we will be taking next year.  I hope they retired that antique plane.  They have more flights and we are taking the red-eye in both directions this time.  

 

Definitely consider a pre and/or post cruise.  If you are not a California resident and have a longer flight to get there, then consider spending a day in LA as a buffer on the way there and/or back.  Crowne Plaza made for an enjoyable transition day last time for us. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...