I asked you guys about which airline to take down to Peru, and now I’ve got another question for you. The wife and I are heading to Tahiti for our honeymoon, but we aren’t going until next year. Which of the following two options would you choose? If you like something else entirely that we haven’t thought about, leave it in the comments. Keep in mind that we’ll be flying in Business Class.
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This isn’t really a fair question… I don’t like Air France, so if given the choice, I might even suggest you take Air Tran… ok, maybe not.
Brett – This is ALMOST a no-brainer. Air Tahiti Nui’s service is supurb. Speaking from personal experience, they treat passengers like guests – much like the way things were a couple decades ago. The reason why I say ALMOST is because I’ve read that logistical reliability can be an on rare occasions an issue (even if you have to spend an extra day, oh well – it IS Tahiti after all). May I suggest you check out pax comments on Skytrax for more feedback.
PS – being it’s your honeymoon, you MUST get an over-water bungalow. It will be an experience of a lifetime! Great choice for a honeymoon.
You don’t provide enough information. Will you be paying with dollars for the tickets? If so, what FF programs do you collect miles in that would benefit from the credit? Etc. etc. :)
I wonder why more people are voting for Air France. Is it because some have never heard of Air Tahiti Nui or they can get mileage on AF? Look at it this way, how often can you say you’ve flown on Air Tahiti Nui.
I have flown on air france, and my dad on air thahiti, and we both agree that air france is beter. he said that air thahitis planes where preety bad. he likes AF better.
Fly Air France!
Cranky: I think you already know the answer, so this is both an unfair and unnecessary poll. Brett summarized it. The passenger reviews of Air Tahiti vary according to whether the planes fly or not. If they fly, the airline gets very good reviews. But the fleet consists of only five aircraft according to Wikipedia. So when one plane goes down for maintenance, especially of the unscheduled kind, it appears to impact their entire schedule. Cranky, you roll the dice. Do you want to fly on airline with a total fleet of only five aircraft, knowing that if they fly, they provide great service? Oh, one more issue. With high fuel prices, and consumer spending declining to the global credit crisis, how long will the airline last? Your loyal readers wouldn’t want to see Cranky and wife stranded in Tahiti when the airline goes belly up.
Here’s a little more background, as requested. We will be paying for these out of pocket. The AF ticket is slightly cheaper but not significantly so. AF tends to have better flight times heading south but Air Tahiti Nui is better going north. Also, we have miles with both Delta and American, so we’re ambivalent about in which program to earn miles. I think AF has better seats on the 777 than Air Tahiti Nui, but I’m not entirely sure.
SAN Greg – We are going to do the overwater bungalow thing, so we’re really excited.
Marty – Not sure why you think it’s a no-brainer. And I really don’t get why you think it’s unfair. There are a lot of very frequent fliers who read the blog, and I was hoping to tap into everyone’s knowledge. I haven’t flown either of these airlines, and as you can see, others have. I’m not worried about Air Tahiti Nui going out of business, but I do wonder about their reliability. Those are all things to take into consideration.
Air Tahiti Nui for experience and frequency. The trip starts at pushback, the flight attendants change into Tahitian garb. The business class seats are pretty old-style, but the service and the food is really quite good. TN operates more flights than anyone else, which should relieve concern on the reliability front. And as for miles, AA’s currency is worth far more than DL’s.
Unfortunately both airlines depart from the Tom Bradley terminal at LAX, otherwise that would tip the scales for me… :(
Air France operates from Terminal 2 at LAX.
I have never had a good experience on AF. That also includes 2 horrendous bumpings while non revving.
Once, I was on the jetway, my bags were loaded, and they called me out, tore up my tickets in front of me and said they were full. Of course my bags went to France, I went to bed, then to IAH the next day and then to France on a hellish flight.
Go with Nui, I’ve heard nothing but great experiences.
Air France uses T2 at LAX. I see their a/c very often when flying Air NZ.
I’d choose TN. Not too many people get the chance to fly TN, but anyone can go on AF. Or how about splitting it–TN going and AF coming back?
Flying Person – That would be ideal to split, but the cheapy business class fares are roundtrip. It would cost too much to split it, sadly.
Indeed re AF/TBIT, I should really check such things before opening my big mouth :)
Does it matter if you can get an airport lounge in LAX? Air Tahiti Nui says the shared lounge at LAX is available for “most” flights. Air France business should be able to get you into the DL club in T5 of the NW club in T2 (I think). Though I think only Tahiti Nui provides a lounge in Tahiti.
From my poking around the AF seats seem a bit nicer.
The only other thing I would consider is seat availability. There is a 2-2-2 on Tahiti Nui and 2-3-2 on Air France…it would kind of suck to end up being in the three seats with someone next to you on your honeymoon I think.
Dan – The lounge thing doesn’t really matter much to me, but that’s a good point about seat availability. As of now, it looks good though.
Personally, I’d fly Air France. It is nothing against Air Tahiti Nui,it is simply based on a few factors
Air France’s business class is superb. The seats are layflat (angled lay flay, but still lay flat). The seats offer in-seat power. The miles earning options are better in my opinion.
I thought Air France operated the A340 on this route, but having spent enough time on AF A330/340/B777 flights I can comfortably say I am happy with any of aircraft when flying in l’Espace
Air Tahiti Nui does not have true lay flat seats. The seats are recliners.
For the length of the flight, and the airfare costs between the two airlines, AF would win out for me hands down.
-Fish
http://www.flyingwithfish.com
Brett,
Does Air France fly the A340 out of LAX? Last I looked the route between LAX-PPT was serviced by an A340 not a 777.
Given the option between Air Tahiti Nui and Air France, I’d choose Air France.
Miles earning options aside, Air France offers a superior product. Given that the two airlines are competitively prived on the LAX-PPT route, AF wins out.
Air France’s l’Espace seats are lay flat (angled lay flat, but still lay flat) where as Air Tahiti Nui’s seats are recliner seats. For the lenght of the flight I’d prefer layflat seats.
Air France offers in-seat AC power, Air Tahiti Nui does not.
Air France’s seat entertainment is far superior in terms of variety for entertainment along the way.
I may be biased as an AF-KL Flying Blue flyer, and that I have flown to Asia via CDG a few times because of my preference for AF…or I could just be looking at your potential options with the view point of someone who likes to lay down and sleep and work on long flights.
…….Onto miles….Air France has better options for accruing miles on SkyTeam carriers.
Happy Flying!
-Fish
http://www.flyingwithfish.com
Fish – It surprised me as well, but it looks like they’ve recently decided to start flying a 777 next year instead of the A340 that has been plying the route. It surprised me as well.
Sorry for the double post. I hit “submit” and Firefox crashed. I assume it didn’t go through when I came back later and didn’t see the post so I rewrote it.
Having spent a lot of time in l’Espace Affaires on the 777 I only have praise for the cabin, the seats and the service.
With LAX-PPT fares in J as low as $1,370 r/t (although the average is close to $2,373) on Air France compared to $4,130 on Air Tahiti Nui (on selected dates where I have compared them side by side) Air France really is a better deal.
………and now I see the 772 coming online for the LAX-PPT route in May. Interesting change up in the equipment for this route.
Happy Flying
-Fish
http://www.flyingwithfish.com
EXCELLENT choice for a honeymoon! My wife and I did Bora Bora and Moorea for ours in 2000 – and are planning on heading back for our ten-year. And – as mentioned – the overwater bungalow is a must.
Best wishes ….
Well, it was a very close vote. At last check Air France only had a handful more votes than Air Tahiti Nui, but we’ve made our decision. We’re going with Air France.
1) For our dates, Air France was almost $1,000 cheaper
2) Both had redeyes on the southbound so that wasn’t a consideration
3) On the northbound, Air Tahiti Nui has a redeye while Air France is a daylight trip. The daylight flight gives us an extra night in Tahiti while still having a full day to recover and get things done before returning to work
4) I just love the 777 (had I not flown the 340 last year, I might be more inclined to go out of my way)
5) My Delta mileage balance will get more benefit from these flights than my AA one will
6) And yes, T2 instead of Bradley is a big deal at LAX at that time of night. Bradley is a mess at night while T2 will be much easier.
I never flew Air Tahiti Nui so I would give it a try ! I like Air France though and have had excellent long haul flights in business with them and others medium. It varies from one crew to the other, but the cabin is nice and peacfull, entertainment good and food great !