Flights within French Polynesia are operated by Air Tahiti (not to be confused with Air Tahiti Nui, the international carrier). Flights are all one-cabin but they won’t be full as they can’t sell all the seats due to weight restrictions landing on the smaller islands.
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The two biggest problems are:
1. You can’t use miles to book these flights. Air Tahiti doesn’t have any partnerships with any other airline. You could use cash back type points such as Ultimate Rewards or Barclay’s Arrival points.
2. The flights are VERY expensive! Those of you who have been to Bora Bora ain’t seen nothing yet, but now you know why we had to resort to ramen noodles to at least make up a bit of the budget! They accept most major credit cards so at least you will get a decent amount of miles from the bank!
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Air Tahiti Destinations
FLIGHT SCHEDULES
You can download a timetable for all Air Tahiti flights. They are updated twice a year, in March and September. As you can see above, most flights to the outer islands go via Papeete but within each island group there are connecting flights. You can’t go from one island group such as the Australes (where Rimatara is located) directly to another group such as the Marquesas (where Ua Huka is located).
ISLAND PASSES
In my case, I was targeting two specific bird species which are only found on two specific islands and I was limited by both time and money. Therefore all we could do was buy two round-trip tickets from Papeete to Ua Huka and Rimatara. For those who have more time and money, you can get island passes which give you several flights within an island group. There are strict rules associated with these passes, you can see more here.
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If we had more time and money to spend, we definitely would have gone for a Marquesas Pass. Even just flying over the various islands, I could see they were stunningly beautiful, would put Bora Bora to shame!
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Terms & Conditions for Passes
Pass fares are offered to adults (over 12 years old) and children (2 to 11 years). There are no Pass fares for infants.
As a general rule, all Passes start and finish in Tahiti or Moorea.
You do not have to visit all of the islands included in your chosen Pass, but at least two islands must be visited.
Each island may be visited only once (a single stopover per island); returning to Tahiti while using the Pass is not permitted.
All of your flights must be confirmed at the time of issuing your ticket.
The length of your trip may not exceed 28 days from the start date, including for Passes with one or more Extensions.
These fares may not be used in conjunction with other fares offered by Air Tahiti and are applicable for payment by cheque, credit/debit card or cash only.
Transits or stopovers in Tahiti while using the Pass
Transits or stopovers in Tahiti while using your Pass are not permitted, except:
- for the Lagoons Pass, between Moorea and the islands of the Tuamotu Archipelago
- for a Pass with Extension, between Pass and Extension
For these exceptions, a maximum transit of 24 hours in Tahiti is permitted.
Stopover (stop lasting more than 24hrs) on an island other than Tahiti
A single stopover is permitted per island.
A transit (stop lasting less than 24 hours) with a change of flight number is considered a stopover except for flights from Bora Bora via Rangiroa to Tikehau, Manihi or Fakarava. For these flights, when there is a flight number change with a stop of less than 2 hours in Rangiroa, such a stop may be considered a transit rather than a stopover.
Passes including more than one group of islands.
All of the islands from a given archipelago must be visited before moving on to the next archipelago (e.g. for the Bora Bora-Tuamotu Pass, all of the islands from the Society Islands archipelago must be visited before moving on to those of the Tuamotu Archipelago).
Within a given archipelago, the islands may be visited in any order, subject to feasibility with regard to Air Tahiti’s flight schedule.
Extensions
An Extension may not be purchased on its own; it must be combined with one of the Passes.
Extensions must be used before or after the Pass.
It is permitted to purchase both Extensions.
A 24-hour stop in Tahiti between Pass and Extension is permitted.
The most important tip I can give you about seat selection is AVOID THE MIDDLE ROWS INBOUND TO TAHITI!
A Hawaiian Airline plane had arrived just before us and the immigration lines were horrific! They seem to take forever processing each person and there were only 3 officers on duty. They do try to make it bearable by having a nice Tahitian band and dancer to welcome and entertain the new arrivals.
