Saturday/Sunday, March 11-12, 2017 – Journey to French Polynesia (YYJ-YVR-LAX-PPT)

The first time April went to French Polynesia she was 11 years old. April's family was supposed to spend three weeks doing a house exchange in Tahiti. Three weeks turned into five weeks and no one in April's family wanted to leave. They even looked at real estate in Tahiti.

When planning for our honeymoon in 2008, we debated a number of different places for our honeymoon. April told Bill again of one of her favourite vacations ever, which was the Tahiti trip. We finally decided to have our honeymoon in French Polynesia. We spent three glorious sun-filled weeks there in August of 2008. We visited the islands of Tahiti, Huahine, Raiatea, Taha’a, and Maupiti. We have dreamed of returning to paradise ever since.

We wanted to take one last big trip before the arrival of our first child. Perhaps this is ambitious for a "babymoon," but we think it is the perfect sequel to our honeymoon.

***

We left Victoria (YYJ) at 11:30 AM on Air Canada…well, we should have. The plane was delayed until almost 12:30 PM. We had to clear security in Victoria, but since we were flying Air Canada though to LAX, we had to clear US customs in YVR. Bill’s passport wouldn’t scan, again, which is the same problem we had last year in Europe. He has a NEXUS card and was able to go through the NEXUS line, but because April doesn’t have one, she had to go through the regular line. It seemed a little odd since we were travelling as a family, but we did as the agents instructed us.

YYJ to YVR

Between the late arrival time and the delay in customs, we ended up with less time in YVR than we had expected. We quickly bolted our Burger King lunch before boarding our second flight.

The flight to LAX from YVR is about 2.5 hours. April found this uncomfortable, even more so being pregnant. However, Bill was able to get us seats in the emergency aisle that were right by a washroom, so we were as comfortable as we could be. Both of us watched the Harry Potter related movie Magical Beats and Where to Find Them, but were unable to finish the movie before the plane arrived.

YVR to LAX: Emergency Aisle

In LAX, we picked up our bags as we were not able to check them through all the way to Tahiti since we were changing airlines (Air Canada/Star Alliance to Air France/Skyteam). We weren’t able to check into our next flight for about four hours, so we were stuck with our two medium sized suitcases and our carry-on bags while we idled away the time.

We ate dinner at a cheesy Plant Hollywood location because everything else seemed even less appealing. While we waited for our chicken Caesar salads to arrive, we read the trivia facts about so-called celebrities.

Departures at Bradley International - LAX

Idling away the time...

After we checked in our bags with Air France, we had to go through CBT security. These agents were by far the worst. Even after April asked not to be scanned in the machine because she was pregnant, the agent refused to do a pat-down. However, as April was already walking through the machine another agent told Bill that she could request a pat down instead of going through the machine. Gee thanks for that useful information too late.

We sat around at the Air France gate for hours waiting to board our flight. We had a snack while we waited.

Waiting for people to let us onto the plane

Our flight from LAX to Tahiti (PPT) was at 11:30 PM. We boarded the flight and had seats at the very back, conveniently located near to the washroom. The plane was a Boeing 777 and we noticed that even when the seats in front of us were up, there was absolutely no leg room. This is in contrast to the Air Canada 777s that Bill has taken where the seat pitch and leg room was definitely more comfortable. It’s not often that we compliment Air Canada, but it scores better than Air France in this regard.

Finally boarded

The flight was about 8 hours and 40 minutes. We tried to sleep, but it was very uncomfortable. April felt sick to the stomach and kept on having to go to the bathroom, and Bill had a horrible cough from a cold that he was trying to get over. We felt like we were never going to make it to Tahiti, but of course we did…it just felt like the longest flight ever.

We landed at dawn at Faa’a International Airport in Tahiti. It was already extremely humid when we stepped off the plane (it’s technically their Autumn right now, which is known for higher temperatures and more humidity than when we visited last time). We had to go through customs and were not well instructed on how to fill out the immigration card. As French Polynesia is part of the EU, April didn’t need to fill out the immigration card as she holds a EU passport, whereas Bill who only holds a Canadian passport needed to fill one out. Due to this error we were delayed and were the last ones to get out of customs and retrieve our bags.

We were happy that our bags made it, but instantly frustrated when we had great difficulty getting any local money out of the one ATM at the Faa’a International Airport. We couldn’t obtain local currency ahead of time as it is not available where live (or many places, for that matter), and we needed cash to pay for the cab to the hotel. Eventually, we were able to obtain a small amount of cash and a taxi to take us to the hotel.

Booking Interisland Flights with Air Tahiti in French Polynesia

A motu in Maupiti

When one wants to fly from the main island in French Polynesia, Tahiti, to any of the islands that have an airport, Air Tahiti (not to be confused with Air Tahiti Nui which flies from LAX to Papeete in Tahiti, but doesn't do interisland flights in French Polynesia) is the airline that you'll use (unless you're booking with private helicopter companies, etc.).  Air Tahiti flies to many, many, many different islands in French Polynesia (French Polynesia has about 118 different islands, but only around half of those are inhabited).

Fresh pineapple juice on Air Tahiti.

Air Tahiti has come a long way since I first flew it in 1991 (I flew from Moorea to Tahiti with my family on my first visit to French Polynesia). For instance, now there is an online booking system that customers and travel agents can use. But the online booking system leaves something to be desired. Or at least it did for me when I was trying to book our interisland flights using one of the flight pass deals that Air Tahiti offers.

On our honeymoon we took several Air Tahiti flights.

Normally when one books with Air Tahiti, there is a price per flight, however, Air Tahiti offer various flight passes that offer significant savings to people wanting to visit several islands in French Polynesia.

The last time we visited French Polynesia, we used Air Tahiti to fly from Tahiti to Huahine, to Raiatea (then we took a boat to visit Taha'a and back to Raiatea to catch our next flight), then to Maupiti, and finally back to Tahiti to fly home.

Sunrise in Tahiti.

This trip, we wanted to throw in some new islands, one new island in the Society Islands and then try some of the islands in the Tuamotu archipelago to the north of the Society Islands (French Polyneisa is made of many, many islands spread over several archipelagos including the Society Islands, Tuamotus, Gambier, Marquesas, and Austral). There are various flight passes to choose from that allow different combinations of islands and archipelagos. The one we settled on was called the Bora Bora- Tuamotu pass (this allows one to visit Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Maupiti, Bora Bora, Rangiroa, Tikehau, and Fakarava). This pass was perfect for us as it allowed us to visit the islands that we wanted to in the Society Islands (Huahine and Bora Bora), as well as a few of the main Tuamotu islands (Fakarava, Rangiroa, and Tikehau).

The trick to the flight pass is that islands have to be visited in a certain order and backtracking is not allowed to either Tahiti or any other island (with exceptions). That can get complicated in some of the outer islands that have less frequent flights and can only be visited by passing through another island. For our Bora Bora-Tuamotu flight pass, we had to visit all the Society Islands that we wanted to visit first before moving onto the Tuamotu islands. No backtracking through any island is allowed and if you land on an island and you're there for over 2 hours (even waiting to catch the flight to the next island) you can can't go back to that island for an actual visit.  Some of the smaller Tuamotu islands only have flights in and out on certain days, so it makes scheduling a real challenge.

The Air Tahiti online booking system was somewhat frustrating to use. Once I had worked out which order we had to visit the islands and on which days we had to take flights to various islands and then back to Tahit,i I tried to book online, but the system would not recognize the flight pass pricing (with a flight pass there is a set price you pay no matter how many islands in the pass you visit, as opposed to paying for each separate flight). Instead of charging me 517.90 Euros per person, the system was trying to charge me about four times that based on the number of flights I had scheduled for my husband and me (tough to say exactly how much more because while the flight pass is priced in Euros, the individual flights are priced in XFP or CFP or French Pacific Franc, the currency of French Polynesia, so I only did a rough conversion).

A lookout in Huahine.

Unfortunately, Air Tahiti has no phone number on their website to contact them. There is only a contact form to fill in online and then wait for up to several days for them to contact you back. However, luckily on online travel forums I found their phone number and an email address. I initially tried to email them to ask if someone could help me schedule the flights and correctly charge me for the flight pass. As I was nervous that some of the flights would sell out (and my carefully ordered vacation would be destroyed), I called Air Tahiti the next morning, having not heard back. For anyone looking for their phone number, it is (689) 40-86-42-42. Their email is reservation@airtahiti.pf.

I was prepared to speak French if needed, but it made me nervous in case my rusty French betrayed me and ruined my careful flight schedule (plus I wanted someone to look over this flight schedule to make sure it both worked and fit within the very technical perameters of the Bora Bora- Tuamotu pass). My fear was for nothing though. The recording allows you to choose French or English. The Air Tahiti agent I was connected to spoke English, so I didn't have to exhaust myself trying to schedule seven different flights in French. She was able to book all seven flights for my husband and me. Then she was able to send me an email with a secure payment link, so that I could pay for the two flight passes by credit card online (they don't take credit cards over the phone she told me). After I received this email I was able to pay easily. I had a booking reference number that she gave me, so I could look up my flights in their online system and they were all there.

The airport in Huahine.

Here is a list of our flights in the order they occur (it takes two flights to get to Fakarava from Bora Bora, ie. we have to pass through Rangiroa, but since we aren't there for over two hours, we can return there after Fakarava for an actual stay on Rangiroa):

DATE  FLIGHT   DEPARTURE AIRPORT       TIME  ARRIVAL AIRPORT         CLASS  BAG
DATE  VOL      AEROPORT DE DEPART      HEURE AEROPORT D ARRIVEE      CLASSE BAG
13MAR VT 272   PPT-PAPEETE, SOC. IS.   0930  HUH-HUAHINE, SOC. IS.   Y -OK  23K
               TERMINAL D1                                   ARRIVAL:1035    

20MAR VT 272   HUH-HUAHINE, SOC. IS.   1050  BOB-BORA BORA           Y -OK  23K
                                                             ARRIVAL:1115    

22MAR VT 543   BOB-BORA BORA, SOC. IS  1220  RGI-RANGIROA, FR. POLY  Y -OK  23K
                                                             ARRIVAL:1335    

22MAR VT 557   RGI-RANGIROA, FR. POLY  1505  FAV-FAKARAVA, FRENCH P  Y -OK  23K
                                                             ARRIVAL:1550    

25MAR VT 568   FAV-FAKARAVA, FRENCH P  0850  RGI-RANGIROA, FR. POLY  Y -OK  23K
                                                             ARRIVAL:1005    

27MAR VT 552   RGI-RANGIROA, FR. POLY  0930  TIH-TIKEHAU, FR. POLYN  Y -OK  23K
                                                             ARRIVAL:0950    

01APR VT 556   TIH-TIKEHAU, FR. POLYN  0900  PPT-PAPEETE, SOC. IS.   Y -OK  23K
                                             TERMINAL D1     ARRIVAL:1050    


So, from Tahiti (we stay one night), we go to Huahine (7 nights), then we go to Bora Bora (2 nights), Fakarava (3 nights), Rangiroa (2 nights), and then Tikeuhau (5 nights), before returning to Tahiti to spend one last night before returning to Canada (via LAX).

Now that our complicated interisland flight schedule is sorted out, it's time to book the accommodations. . . .

Sunrise over Maupiti.