New Booking Procedure for Air Tahiti Nui Using AA Miles (Again)

There’s a new way to book Air Tahiti Nui award space with your American Airlines miles. Again…

Air Tahiti Nui recently changed its fare class codes for economy class and business class awards.

• F = Business Class Award
• U = Economy Class Award

This has caused some confusion at American Airlines, where many agents are used to checking Air Tahiti Nui award space under the old fare buckets (I for business class, W for economy class).

The good news is that the with the fare code changes agents no longer have to use the trick I outlined here to book. The bad news is that you still often need to gently instruct an AA agent on how to search for this award space.

How to Book Air Tahiti Nui Award Travel Using AA Miles

You can use Expert Flyer to search for Air Tahiti Nui award space. Once you find space on your preferred date(s), you must call AA to book.

Reference the flight number you are looking to book and say something like this–

The previous agent told me that Air Tahiti Nui has new booking codes for award space. I’m not quite sure what that means, but she said F like Foxtrot is now for business class and U like uniform is now economy class. Do you know what she is talking about?

Better to act dumb, because few agents enjoy being told how to do their jobs. But this always does the trick.

CONCLUSION

Air Tahiti Nui remains an excellent use of your American Airlines miles, but familiarize yourself with how to book…or face a headache on the phone. Finally, note that Delta agents seems to have received the memo on this. While you may have to remind Delta of the new booking codes, that has not been my experience.