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Bora Bora From Our Plane
- Introduction
- Planning
- A Bad Start & a Few Hours in Los Angeles
- Air France Lounge – Los Angeles
- Air France Business Class – Los Angeles to Papeete
- Getting to Moorea
- Hilton Moorea
- Hilton Moorea, Panoramic Overwater Bungalow #87
- An ATV Tour in Moorea
- Whale & Dolphin Watching in Moorea
- Eating in Moorea
- Moorea to Bora Bora
- Bora Bora Airport To InterContinental Thalasso
- Emerald Overwater Bungalow #204 at the InterContinental Thalasso Bora Bora
- Jet-Skiing in Bora Bora
- A 9 Hour Bike Ride Around Bora Bora
- Eating in the InterContinental Thalasso
- InterContinental Thalasso Coral Garden Suite
- Around the InterContinental Thalasso
- Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort
- Royal Overwater Villa, Hilton Bora Bora Nui
- Dinner at Villa Mahana
- Eating in the Hilton Bora Bora
- Is Food Expensive in Bora Bora?
- A Day in Papeete
- Air Tahiti Nui and Southwest Flights Home
- Conclusion & Blog Giveaway!
Daraius: We arranged for transportation to the airport in Moorea through the Hilton. We paid 1,200 XPF (~$13) per person for a shared van to the airport. We had checked out at 7:30 am and gone straight for our whale watching expedition in the morning.
We got back to the hotel around noon and went for a walk outside before returning at 12:45, 15 minutes before our transfer.
We arrived at the airport around 1 hour before departure time, checked in, and waited for our plane.
Check-in at Moorea Airport
The airport is very small and there is NO security. You just walk to the plane! I couldn’t get over the novelty!
The 45 minute flight from Moorea to Bora Bora cost $247 per person on Air Tahiti (different from international airline Air Tahiti Nui). You can’t redeem miles for this flight, but you could use Citi Thank You points where 1 point = 1.33 cents towards air travel, Chase Ultimate Rewards where 1 point = 1.25 cents per point towards air travel, or Capital One or American Express Membership Rewards points.
Emily: There was no restaurant or fast food at the airport. Poor Daraius had a lunch of a Magnum caramel chocolate ice cream bar and Pringles Sour Cream and Onion potato chips. I packed powerbars for myself because of my fish allergy, so I had one of those, plantain chips, and mango slices (I stocked up at Trader Joe’s before our trip in case I could not eat locally due to my fish allergy).
Walk to the Plane
The plane was a small propeller plane.
Plane to Bora Bora
The Moorea airport was tiny.
Small Airport Terminal
And the airport in Bora Bora was small as well.
Bora Bora Airport
We read that the best seats, for the flight into Bora Bora, were on the left side of the plane. So we lined up for boarding as soon as our incoming flight landed in Moorea. The view from the plane was very pretty.
Daraius: We didn’t realize it at the time, but the crab claw-like arrangement of overwater bungalows in the bottom left portion of the picture below was the InterContinental Thalasso resort where we stayed for 2 nights!
Welcome to Paradise!
Emily: Be sure to sit either close to the front of the plane or close to the back of the plane othwerwise you could wind up with a lovely view of the propellers!
Moorea to Bora Bora
After we landed, we went to the InterContinental welcome booth at the airport and picked up our bags.
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I have earned and redeemed millions of airline miles and hotel points to travel the world for free. Now I'm blogging to help more people do the same! 
Looks pretty foggy and cloudy. That seems pretty pricy for a 45 minute flight! I just booked Maui to Honolulu and it was $60. Have you been to Kauai? I would highly recommend it. Check out my trip report so far in my blog.
That prop plane looks bigger than I thought. Some inter island prop planes are considerably smaller than that.
@Romsdeals – I haven’t been to Hawaii as yet, but perhaps sometime soon.
@MileageUpdate – Ha! That plane was slightly bigger than some of the regional jets I’ve been on in the US.
You haven’t been to Hawai’i?? My, oh my!!! You’ve GOT to go. Hawai’i no ka oi (is the best)! This is my favorite getaway, by far and I make it a point to go at least a couple of times a year (of course, it’s much easier for us left coasters to get there).
It is so beautiful, so easy to get to, so easy to get around, is part of the US, and yet is so exotic. I am sure you’ll love it!
Hawaii IS great but Darius and Emily went to BORA BORA. Not exactly on the same level. At least in terms of water color, overwater accommodations an exclusivity. Thank you guys for the step by step guide. Can’t wait to read more. Didn’t know you could use ultimate rewards pts for the flight. Do you recommend doing that for ppt to bora bora?
@KateFromCA - My, oh my indeed! We’re thinking of going there next year, but there’s only so much vacation days available.
@Dyhppy - You can use Ultimate Rewards for Papeete to Bora Bora, but that means fewer points to transfer to United or Hyatt or elsewhere and you get a redemption value of 1.25 cents. But do what makes sense for you as long as you are happy with the trade off (saving cash vs. saving miles for future use).
KateFromCA, visit Bora Bora, then let us know if Hawaii “is the best”.
Beautiful pictures! This is indeed a honeymoon to cherish! Btw, isnt hawaii often referred to as “the poor man’s tahiti”… just saying
You lie MMS. That top picture isn’t Bora Bora.
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Is the $247 roundtrip or each way per person?
I second Maury’s question. Great mind think alike.
@Maury @Chris P. Jones – It was 1 way.