FLIGHTS
The obvious choice of travel is a flight. Tahiti Airport is known as Fa´a´a International airport and it is actually the only international airport in French Polynesia. So it does not matter which country you are coming from, you will always have to fly to Tahiti airport first and then get additional transport to the inner islands.
Because Tahiti is such a popular destination, despite being pricey, you need to book your flight as soon as possible. Honeymooners and tourists traveling through agencies book out tickets and travel packages sooner than you think. We started to plan a trip to French Polynesia 8 months in advance. The key is to have the right information so you can track the best prices and deals. The key is to know where to watch for the best deals.
And here comes the trick.
Our tip # 1:It is always good to know what airlines serve the airport you are planning to go to. If you know the airlines, you need to watch them very closely. These airlines often offer discounts just on their websites, therefore they do not appear in the search engines like Skyscanner or Kayak. Sometimes, airlines offer special passes that you would not know about if you had not checked their website. This trick works the best with smaller airports, like Tahiti. There are just a few airlines that serve this airport. So it is fairly easy to follow their websites or social media, where the discounts often appear.
And because we want you to save time, here are airlines that serve Tahiti.
International airlines that serve Tahiti are Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti Nui, Aircalin, Hawaiian Airlines and LATAM Airlines.
The only domestic airline that serves inner islands is Air Tahiti. Air Tahiti also flights to Rarotonga on the Cook Islands. It is definitely worth to check this airline because they usually offer some pretty good prices for flights.
These are the airlines that you need to watch if you intend to visit French Polynesia.
Our tip #2:The best way to watch the prices, is to subscribe to the airline´s alerts. In that case, they will notify you every time they change the price or release new discounts. Also, if you are lucky to collect miles, check these airlines if you are allowed to use your miles to travel even cheaper.
The next step after knowing what airlines you should be following, do you research and check from what cities they fly to Tahiti. This is particularly important if you need to book other additional air tickets. If you do not live in cities that serve Tahiti directly, there is a pretty good chance you will need to book more flights to travel there. If you want to stay on a budget, you need to also find the cheapest way possible to travel into these gateways.
Here you have a list of cities that you can fly to Fa’a’a directly. So if you want to travel from Europe or another part of the world, watch the deals for air tickets into these gateways.
| AIRLINE | CITY |
| AIR NEW ZEALAND | AUCKLAND |
| AIR TAHITI | RAROTONGA |
| AIRCALIN | NOUMEA |
| AIR TAHITI NUI | LOS ANGELES, TOKYO-NARITA, AUCKLAND |
| HAWAIIAN AIRLINE | HONOLULU |
| LATAM AIRLINE | EASTER ISLAND |
The flights to French Polynesia are fairly regular, every airline flies in specific day and time.
| AIRLINE | CITY | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN |
| AIR NZ | AUCKLAND |  | | | | |||
| AIR TAHITI | RAROTONGA | | ||||||
| AIRCALIN | NOUMEA | | | | ||||
| LATAM AIRLINE | EASTER I. | | ||||||
| HAWAIIAN AIRLINE | HONOLULU | | ||||||
| AIR TAHITI NUI | LOS ANGELES | | | | | | | |
| TOKYO | | | ||||||
| AUCKLAND | | | | |
There are also indirect flights to French Polynesia, mostly with Qantas from Australia, Air France from Europe, LATAM Airlines from Santiago de Chile. From Asia you can indirectly fly with Japan Airlines or Korean Air. Tahiti is also included as a stop on many round-the-world tickets.
Our tip #3: Compare prices on the airline´s websites with prices you can find on search engines like Skyscanner or Kayak. The prices very often vary. And not always the search engines find the best deals.
Our tip #4: Be thorough and compare prices of flights during day/night. It can make a big difference if you fly at night or early in the morning because these flights are usually the least popular ones.
Our tip #5: As much as we love Skyscanner, Kayak, and other search engines, there are times that we do not book flights with them. Especially, if we plan to travel to the smaller destinations, like Tahiti, it is better, according to us, book your flights directly with the airline.
Why?
Because when something happens, flights get canceled, delays, you can deal straight with the airlines that serve the destination, instead of trying to deal with the agent that you book your flight through. Airlines dealt with you differently ifyou booked your flights with an agent and not directly with them. Sometimes they cannot even change the details of the flight without contacting the agent. Which aside from being expensive might be a hassle to do from the middle of Pacific.
Our tip #6: Always check what you pay for. Especially on those flights rates often include just a carry-on luggage. Thus if you plan to travel with a bigger luggage, do not forget to compare prices with all extras included.
