Air Tahiti Nui Business Class To Paris (Fifth Freedom)
Finding award space from the west coast can be tough and often requires connecting in the midwest or even on the east coast. That's why I was happy to see some award space on a between Los Angeles and Paris.
While award space might not line up for a round-trip in some cases, this could be a great option for booking a one-way award on Air Tahiti Nui and pairing it with another award in the other direction.
If nothing else, it's a fun way to book a fifth freedom flight!
Now, let's get into the details.
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: LAX-CDG
Operating airline: Air Tahiti Nui
Class of service: Business class
Dates: March-April, July-September, November-December 2022
Seats available: 2
Cabin layout: 2-2-2
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *American AAdvantage: 57,500 miles
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue: 72,000 (in theory)
*No surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- Outbound: $5.60
- Inbound: ~$148
- Surcharges:
- Outbound: ~$109
- Inbound: ~$118
Bank transfer partners:
- American: Bilt, Citi, Marriott
- Flying Blue: Amex, Bilt, Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
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DISCLAIMER: Please be aware that the COVID-19 situation and the resulting travel restrictions could prevent you from traveling. Additionally, please make sure you understand the cancellation/redeposit and change fees required before booking with a particular program.
Travel Restrictions and Requirements
With travel restrictions changing by the day, please take a look at the US embassy site for your destination. Here's a link to France to get you started.
Flight Experience
Let's be honest, a 2-2-2 cabin layout isn't exactly in the conversation for best business class layouts (Apex Suites are an exception). While only some seats will have direct aisle access, the seats are still lie-flat. Just skip the row 4 window seats which don't actually have a window.
The inflight food and beverage options get good marks and the crews are generally friendly.
Please note that Air Tahiti Nui is not a oneworld member so you won't have access to American's Flagship Lounge at LAX. According to Air Tahiti Nui's site, you currently have access to the Star Alliance Business Class lounge at LAX and the Salon Paul Maxence at CDG.
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Available Dates
You can find seats for 4 people in business class on the following dates.
LAX-CDG
March: 4, 9, 30, 31
April: 1-4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 21, 25
May: 16
June: N/A
July: 7, 8, 11, 18, 19,. 21-26, 28
August: 1-3
September: N/A
October: N/A
November: 9, 12
December: 5, 9, 21, 23-26, 28
CDG-LAX
March 5, 24, 26, 29, 31
April: 7, 11, 12, 16, 19, 21, 24, 26, 29
May: 5, 6, 27
June: 17
July: N/A
August: 19, 23, 24, 26, 27
September: 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 18
October: 25, 28
November: 1, 6, 7, 10, 12-14, 20, 24, 27, 28
December: 4-6, 8, 10-13, 15, 17-20, 22, 24-27, 29
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Best Ways To Book
American miles are pretty much THE way to go with this one. At 57,500 miles one-way, it's a great rate to Europe. It's just a matter of having AA miles to burn or having Bilt or Marriott points to transfer.
In theory, Flying Blue miles can be used but award space doesn't line up with what American sees. In fact, it can be quite tough to find space fi there's any available at all.
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How To Book
Keep it simple and search with American Airlines:
- Go to AA's site
- Select Advanced / Multi-city search (just click this link)
- Select Redeem miles
- Select One way or Round trip
- Enter From & To cities
- Select departure date(s)
- Choose the number of passengers
- Select Class as Business/First
- Click Search
- If you're searching for a nonstop, select Calendar then sort by nonstop.
- Once you know which dates have Air Tahiti Nui space, you can run a search from your home airport if you're not booking nonstop
If you want to book with Flying Blue miles, I'd search with Expert Flyer then call Flying Blue and ask them to check for space. Personally, I've found the Germany and Spain call centers to be helpful.
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Final Thoughts
It can be tough to find business class space to Europe from the west coast so I'm always happy to see space, especially a non-stop option to Paris! The fact that it's a fifth freedom flight makes it a little more fun, of course.
While it may not be easy to line up a round-trip on Air Tahiti Nui, you can pair this with another award ticket.
Happy Booking!
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