Air Tahiti Nui

LAX-CDG First Class Seat 1D. A340. Small private cabin with only 6 seats. The crew professional and courteous. Food and wine decent. Lie flat seat very dated and more comparable to Business Class. Poor selection of movies most at least 10 years old.

AKL-PPT return in economy in A340-300. About a few months after booking ATN sent me an e-mail with cancellation of the return flight due to a commercial decision. Because this is not a daily route I had to change both my outbound and inbound flight and either a domestic flight in New Zealand. No online check-in and advanced seat allocation possibility. Check-in both in Auckland and Papeete slow: few counters and long rows. Cabin crew friendly and well dressed with Tiare flowers in their hair. Decent food each seat has a PTV but no AVOD. Pretty cramped leg room. Once on the French Polynesian islands I was not able to change my return flight to Auckland with my standard Y fare which I don't understand. Overall the booking system and ground service are a bit outdated (still need to reconfirm flights) but in the aircraft you will have a small Tiare flower behind your ear and a smile on your face because this is an airline that flies to a very exotic location.

LAX-PPT. The captain and crew thought people could govern themselves as there was no proper checking to see if everyone was belted in when the fasten seatbelt sign came on. Drinks were complimentary and meals decent. I was lucky enough to have a row of four seats to myself which I used to make a makeshift bed. My flight was a good one although the fare was steep - airline has actually been scrutinized recently for corrupt operating practices including sky- high fares so don't be surprised if your airfare is more than you expect.

AKL-PPT-LAX. Horrible flight horrible service. Very slow check in and cramped seats. Service and food on flight fine. However arrived in LAX and they had lost my luggage. Waited 3 hours at the baggage carousel because attendents were disorganized kept walking away and not returning and they had no counter (or system it seems) to handle lost baggage. I was told unclaimed bags were just thrown on the carousel for the next flight coming in and that I should wait around to see if my bags arrived on another flight. Took 5 days to receive my bags. Air Tahiti Nui baggage line never answered my calls went to an answering machine and I left several messages. I only received a call 3 days later saying they had found my bags and they would arrive at my door the next day - which they did not. Wasted 2 days waiting at home for bags that didn't arrive. Finally received my luggage and called to claim my $65 compensation. I couldn't get this either and was told conflicting advice about having to fax someone or having to wait until I got back to Auckland. I was also told that my 2 hour layover was not enough time for the airport in Tahiti to transfer bags to a new plane. Since I had the same layover on the way back I called reservations to see what could be done so I didn't have the same problem on the way back to Auckland - flight change pay for an upgrade mark my bags as priority (I would have been happy with any advice they could give). During this conversation I was talked at instead of listened to treated rudely and the end result was that I was told there was nothing they could do and I shouldn't be so negative. I was told I shouldn't call them anymore. Apparently one phone call is considered harassment. All in all very bad flight and awful service. Even if this flight is a bit cheaper I will gladly pay more and fly Qantas or Air NZ in future. Would not recommend this airline at all.

PPT-AKL. Attentive flight attendants courteous with genuine care. Hot brunch was not the best I've had on Air Tahiti Nui with meal overcooked/overheated. IFE equipment could be updated and it is now redundant compared to other airlines but choice offered makes up for it. The three languages (French/English/Tahitian) used for inflight communication are well enunciated but could be restricted to French and English only as too many announcements are quite distracting.

AKL-PPT. A very enjoyable flight - check in quick and pleasant crew friendly and professional. Food good and nice wine choices. Old style seats really let them down but otherwise nothing to fault

I have flown Air Tahiti Nui several times. I always fly First Class. The level of service on the 2 flights I took on this trip has diminished. The amenity kits are not the same. On the flight LAX to PPT I was given an appetizer that was a joke. A small piece of shrimp with some sauce and 2 pieces of cheese. This is not First Class Service I was used to with Air Tahiti Nui previously. The boarding process is nerve racking. I resent having to go boxed in the buses that transport you to the aircraft. They box you in like sardines. I pay nearly $5000.00 for a one way flight to PPT and get the same boarding treatment was a coach paying passenger.

AKL-PPT-AKL. Did MEL-AKL earlier in the day with Emirates on a seperate booking. Bags checked in through to PPT at MEL did make it with us so no complaints there. Looking at the plane's fuselage the cabin decor and the Tahitian music playing made you feel you are going on a vacation. Inflight crew attentive and friendly especially on the way back. Meals were good. Only sore point was the IFE. It was not AVOD and very limited choices. Had the IFE been better would have scored this flight at 9 or 10.

The overnight flight Papeete to LA was cancelled without notice. We were booked on the flight 12 hours later which meant we could not make any connecting flights that day to JFK as we arrived too late. We were given an hotel room for the night before the flight but had to fend for ourselves in LA for the enforced overnight stop. The reason for the cancellation was not made clear but I would suspect it was none other than not enough passengers as cancellations seems to happen frequently. The same flight the previous evening had also been cancelled. At no time did anyone offer an apology. I would not recommend this airline as they are unreliable.

LAX-PPT-AKL-LAX Economy return. The flight from LAX to PPT was cancelled. I was notified about two weeks before the flight was supposed to leave. I was a bit peeved as the flight from LAX was a connecting flight and the cancellation meant that I had to overnight in LA and take the next flight the following morning. I explained my situation to Air Tahiti Nui and they put me up in a hotel (Four Points by Sheraton)and gave me dinner and breakfast vouchers! The flights were all on time plane modern plenty of room for economy. I'm 5'11 and was comfortable for the entire trip. The inflight entertainment is not as modern as it could be its not on demand but the movie selection is good and there is a nice selection of recent releases. One note of caution try to avoid any stopovers in Tahiti that will be longer than two hours - the airport is old and boring and there is nothing to do while you wait not even a TV to watch. The food was superb for economy and inflight service by the attendants was friendly polite and professional. Topping all of this off is the fact they were $700-$1000USD cheaper than ANZ Qantas or United.