Air Tahiti Nui

Started trip in Seattle. Unable to print Boarding Pass for LAX-PPT leg so had to go thru TSA again as new passenger. We were Business Class & finding ATN desks a challenge only to find 4 hours before flight there is no-one there so without a pass unable to use Business Lounge. Left from gate 142. Its not a plane gate its a bus which is 15 mins back to plane & of course a free for all. No priority boarding but that the least of our problems.

Taxi out get to just before runway when he loses steering. Towed in to workshop, not de-planed told its a burst hydraulic hose & if they have one at the store 30 minutes away they can fix it. They have one. Its fixed, delay 3 hours. Push out again when they have to return to workshop with a major engine fault. Lots of coming & going to the flight deck, engineers everywhere. Still no de-plane but they offer disembarking but everyone has to agree. Nothing but everyone or no-one. Young couple demand to disembark so offered upgrade to our Business class cabin. Good for them! Engine fixed after 3 hours when pilot tells us he cannot fly to PPT as it would exceed his duty hours so they need to find another pilot who is in a hotel 45 mins away. another hour delay. Its an 8 hour flight so by the time we get to PPT we have been aboard 15 hours! Thankfully we were in Business class. BTW compensation? Sorry its a 'rolling' delay. In other words they considered it 3 delays of less than 5 hours. Next time we go Mickey Mouse Air or was that what we were on? Paul Gauguin unable to help altho they made the reservations. Fly via Honolulu if you go. ATN are the worst airline we have ever been on & we have been all over the world on some pretty strange flights.

Yikes poor you, hope the rest of your trip is filled with sun, fun and great service

I second all you say about ATN. I too have flown many airlines in many parts of the world and think ATN is the worst ever. As much as we loved the PG, unless they sail in other parts of the world, we will not be back.

Sorry for your situation ...

For those that are reading I will simply say this is not the norm. Not trying to defend ATN, just saying with over a dozen trips to FP on ATN nothing like what happened to you has ever happened to us.

Sure we grumble occasionally about the food or the temperature in the cabin but nothing major has every happened and the majority of the time out flight has arrived early.

Overall I can say competition is always good for the consumer. 10 - 20 years ago there were more carriers into PPT and flights seemed to be a bit more comfortable.

We've flown ATN, AF, ANZ, Corsair and Hawaiian Airlines into PPT. All have had small disappointments with the exception of ANZ but they no longer fly into PPT, bummer.

Again sorry for your situation/experience ...

Check FlightStats for Air Tahiti Nui. They have a less than 40% record. Nuff said! BTW Air Tahiti have NO connection with Air Tahiti Nui which is 84% owned by FP gov, controlled of course still by France.

I just came back from FP.

ATN from Auckland and then ATN from Papeete. Both horrible aircraft but on time.

Over several trips we have once been late to leave Papeete

We will be in AF in July.

Have travelled all over the world and had problems on a number of airlines over the years.

ATN stats are probably bad but in the end it's the luck of the draw.

I would travel on ATN in a heartbeat if it means that i will be on the PG in FP.

Emdee - "I would travel on ATN in a heartbeat if it means that i will be on the PG in FP."

Nailed it ... couldn't agree more.

I thought my Air France experience with their antiquated booking system was bad, but it was nothing compared to that! We were delayed due to a rollover past midnight that somehow caused all passengers who checked in online to lose their seat and reservation. It took over an hour to figure it out and we were the first in line. Then we were delayed at the gate.

Still, I would deal with the problems in a second just to get back to paradise.

What a nightmare! :eek: OP, your post is not instilling confidence in my upcoming ATN flight. My friend insisted on not leaving until day of sailing. We literally land at 10:10pm, and sailing is 11:55pm. Supposedly, this is the same flight that PG booked a majority of their cruises on, so should not have a problem. That all said, it is stories like this that make me very nervous. We do have a transfer booked, since we were cruise only vs. air plus cruise. I'm thinking positive thoughts as best I can. Hoping this was a rare, one off happening.

This person's experience was an exception. We have used ATN for our 8 PG cruises without any of this kind of problem. It is a long flight and coach can be a pain. The food is very average on the way over and not good on the way back to the states.

I note that you are not using the PG air for some reason so I hope that you have cruise insurance. If this is the flight that the cruise line is using for your cruise you should be ok. Sometimes we are brought over on the afternoon flight.

You will have a great time on your cruise!

Thanks for the reassurance. Yes, I did get travel insurance. It's always a good idea b/c you never know what will happen.

We're not using the PG air b/c my friend won airfare to PPT. I don't know all the details but she has a very good travel agent making the arrangements. The agent double checked with both ATN, and PG about our flight. Both assured her there was no problem with the arrival in PPT.

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We were booked by PG on an ATN flight scheduled to land at 10:50 PM when our cruise was scheduled to depart at 11:55 PM. Once we found out that 82 passengers on our flight were heading for the PG, we no longer worried that they would leave without us. There were 2 buses waiting for us at the airport and boarding of the ship went very quickly and smoothly.