Airfare: own or princess? LA to Papeete

[Cactus]

We have been doing a "preliminary" look at booking a 10 day aboard the TPin June 2005 and adding the five day four night Moorea / Tahiti package at the end. A quick scan of airfares and dates available was quite an education. I found them from $1,067. pp to over $4,000. pp for the same weeks. Have most booked their own airfare or let Princess handle it?

Thanks in advance,

Ed

[NitaBcruising]

We have been doing a "preliminary" look at booking a 10 day aboard the TPin June 2005 and adding the five day four night Moorea / Tahiti package at the end. A quick scan of airfares and dates available was quite an education. I found them from $1,067. pp to over $4,000. pp for the same weeks. Have most booked their own airfare or let Princess handle it?

Thanks in advance,

Ed

Hi Ed!

I believe most book air from LA with Princess. We did our first time, last year. Then used miles our 2nd trip, this year. We also have booked the air with Princess for March 2006. If it gets cheaper with ATN, we can cancel with Princess. The air for March 2006 is $828, about $75 more than this year.

Some of the CCers that were on our sailing, booked a 4 night pre-cruise with Islands in the Sun, in a package with air, hotel, and transfers, and got an excellent deal. They had to leave the ship in Moorea the evening before, to fly home a day early. But it made it very affordable for them. They had to get permission from Princess to leave the ship early, but it's not a problem. The packages can be arranged for you to come home several days later, but can only fly on certain days. Hence, the early departure from the ship.

Hope this helps!

[Cactus]

I appreciate the feedback - the air travel times I’ve found are really "inconvenient" considering when you have to check out / check in to hotels or embarkation / disembarkation. From research on CC it appears Princess takes care of its own – as usual - and allows full use of the ships’ facilities and restaurants until it’s time to head to the airport. I will be contacting my TA tomorrow to find out the cost of Princess transfers and airfare; if it’s in the “ballpark” I’ll let them handle it. We cruised Princess for our last three cruises and just returned from an 18 day (pre/post) cruise / land tour of Alaska – The Princess lodges and staff on land were just as efficient as those on the ships. Leaving the ship a day early for a flight out of Tahiti is not acceptable – but leaving a day later is…. ; ) Sounds like you have been to FP 2 or more times - any "insider" info on what to see and do? We don't dive - but just about anything else....horses, hikes, bikes, snorkle, submarines, flightseeing, etc, etc....

 

Thanks again,

Ed

[Skittles]

Hi Nita:

 

I am find alot of information from you and others. You mentioned that you used air miles from LA to Papeete. How many does it take and which airlines? Thank you.

[laurieb]

we booked air with Princess last time, and made our own arrangements this time. We are doing pre and post cruise stays this time, and found the air cheaper doing it ourselves. Princess does have good prices if you are flying in and out without pre or post. Just don't bother with the transfers. You can do it on your own cheaper and miss the cattle cars. If youare thinking about pre or post stays, Princess is very overpriced, you can book online much cheaper, and with more choices.

[EDANA]

Skittles...I read on another thread American FF miles can be used with ATN and it seems 80,00 miles were required. Maybe someone else can verify this please.

[jagoffee]

Yes, you can use AA airlines miles to fly on ATN. A business class ticket from Chicago to LA to Papeete was 125K miles.

[MichTraveler]

Northwest airlines just added ATN to its list of partners in May of this year. It is also 80,000 miles. More for business class.

[nancycoop1]

We are going to Tahiti in March. I had our TA book the air with Princess in case I couldn't find anything less expensive. I did find an airfare thru Travelocity for less than $700 (round trip lax to ppt). You just need to check back often as the fare has gone up again (but will also go down again).

 

As we were then able to book the flight and dates we wanted without paying a deviation thru princess, I had our TA cancel our Princess airfare. This can be done anytime prior to your final payment.

 

Keep Looking!!!

 

Nancy

[WesW]

also try www.skyauction.com they have R/T to Papeete from LA, current

winning bid is $536..only fare to beat that is on ATN with their semi

annual specials (e.g., $349)..good luck..

[cruisernurse]

We had booked through Princess, the a friend found the ATN web site and they constantly are running great deals from LAX to PPT. We got round trip air for 498pp this past May. I highly suggest keeping a close check on their web specials. We saved enough to stay pre and post and pay for all of our shore excursions!

Nancy

[Darrell and Janine]

we booked air with Princess last time, and made our own arrangements this time. We are doing pre and post cruise stays this time, and found the air cheaper doing it ourselves. Princess does have good prices if you are flying in and out without pre or post. Just don't bother with the transfers. You can do it on your own cheaper and miss the cattle cars. If youare thinking about pre or post stays, Princess is very overpriced, you can book online much cheaper, and with more choices.

If you don't use the Princess transfer (to and from the airport) where do you ask the cab driver to take you when you arrive (since you can't get on the ship until mid day)? Is it better to use the transfer on the way to the ship and then grab a cab to the airport on departure? Thanks!

[laurieb]

you should be able to get on by 11 or so. you would have a couple options, have the cab take you to the dock and hang out in the visitor center area, take a tour around the area in a cab. If you do buy the transfer to the ship, I think you would be better off grabbing a cab to the airport.

You might be able to check your luggage at the ship early even if you can't get on yet-something to check into- and then you could explore Papeete while youwait. We had a miserable time sitting at the Sheraton for hours. Maybe it has changed, but we weren't even offered water while we were there.