Tag Archives for bora bora.
They claim they can offer “no cases of COVID-19 contamination” through “100 percent monitoring of people and goods before boarding” and strict health protocols. There are great protocols, but there are two problems that are stoppers.
My wife and I were thinking of going back to the Maldives for Thanksgiving. We’ve cancelled stays at the St. Regis there several times. I’ve still only stayed (5 times) at the Park Hyatt. We even had a redemption stay booked at the St. Regis at the old 60,000 point level, and Etihad First Apartment awards – although at the time there was a problem booking infant tickets in conjunction with AAdvantage redemptions on Etihad that’s since been fixed.
The idea, though, of traveling all the way to the Maldives with our daughter was daunting. At three months we took her to Paris. At five months we took her to Sydney. She’s a great traveler but she’d be over a year old come Thanksgiving and wanted something a bit easier to manage. That’s when business class awards on Air Tahiti Nui popped up and I booked those to give us another option. We were meeting friends for Thanksgiving and had to coordinate those plans as well.
Here’s a brief synopsis of what to expect, with reports coming describing each leg of the journey from booking and cost to the actual experience.
French Polynesia is one of the toughest awards in the world to book. In part that’s because there are only four flights between the U.S. mainland and Tahiti, and because three of those aren’t even operated more than 3 times a week.
It’s a desirable destination, perhaps one of the most naturally beautiful in the world. And right now you can book 2 business class award seats on about half the dates between now and end of the airline schedules.
Wednesday, June 1 11:10 am Depart Papeete Intl Tahiti Faaa Air Tahiti Flight 452 Egads, we were about 45 minutes ahead of my planned schedule. After a 5 minute cab ride (1500 CFP) I went to check in. There are 2 domestic terminals at Faaa and 1 international. Entering the airport, the first terminal is for Air Moorea, then the international terminal, followed by Air Tahiti (VT). Several shops, an upstairs restaurant, downstairs shops, Bance Socredo, McDonald’s, and business center. Checkin requires you to first screen all bags, which then receive a tag. You take them over to checkin yourself after that (at least at LAX at the TBIT the bags are taken to checkin with you and you aren’t allowed to touch them after screening, couldn’t you put something dangerous in after receiving the…
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
