New route alert: Seattle to Tahiti starting at $800

My best friend lives in Seattle and she often complains of the frequent dreary, gloomy days she experiences as a Pacific Northwesterner.

If you too are a Seattleite in need of some sun, this is a friendly reminder that Air Tahiti Nui will launch a new route to the capital of French Polynesia, Tahiti’s Papeete, this fall.

Ahead of the carrier’s inaugural flight in October, round-trip, nonstop flights from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Faaa International Airport (PPT) are currently on sale starting at just $800, nearly half-off the usual $1,500 price tag for this route.

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Deal basics

Airline: Air Tahiti Nui.
Route: SEA-PPT.
How to book: Browse Google Flights and book directly through the airline.
Travel dates: October 2022-March 2023, including availability over Thanksgiving but excluding Christmas and New Year’s.

Major shoutout to Scott’s Cheap Flights for alerting us of these deal flights. Travelers can try SCF for free for 14 days and then sign up for a Premium membership for $49 per year to receive deals up to 90% off. Or, upgrade to the Elite tier for $199 per year to receive premium economy, business-class and first-class deal alerts.

Sample flights

Because this is a new route, flights will only initially operate on select days. Outgoing flights from Seattle will depart on Sundays and Wednesdays, with return options on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Therefore, to search this deal, I would suggest playing with your dates and length of travel on Google Flights until you find a round-trip flight, available starting in October through March.

From there, select dates that work for you and head to the airline to survey fare options. The advertised flight on Google is slightly lower than what the actual price will be when booking through Air Tahiti Nui since Google provides cheaper deals if you book through third-party sites, which we do not recommend doing.

Even so, the lowest round-trip fare available via the carrier is just under $800. For example, you could book this flight from Oct. 9-16 for $796 total, thanks to current online Economy Promo fares.

Read more: Air Tahiti Nui adds Seattle route and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan partnership

Other considerations

This flight is nearly nine hours and 30 minutes. It will depart at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and arrive in Papeete at 7:10 p.m. the next day. The return flight will depart Papeete at 9:35 p.m. and arrive in Seattle at 10 a.m.

All of the flights in this deal are for Moana Economy, which allows travelers one free carry-on bag and one free checked bag. If you book now and your travel plans change down the line, you can change your flight (while paying any applicable fare difference), and you’re eligible for a partial refund should you need to cancel altogether.

As of April 1, Alaska Mileage Plan members can earn miles flying Air Tahiti Nui based on the distance flown. Since SEA-PPT is a 4,784-mile route, this is a good opportunity to redeem Alaska Airlines miles for Air Tahiti Nui-marked and -operated flights, specifically flight numbers 1-999.

If you do intend to redeem, be sure to add your Mileage Plan number to your Air Tahiti Nui reservation when booking, and know that redemptions are subject to blackout dates that have not yet been released.

Lastly, a friendly reminder that Air Tahiti Nui has a frequent flyer program called Club Tiare, which allows travelers to earn miles on all flights except for promotional fares, such as the ones mentioned in this deal.

Although there is some availability to book this route starting at 66,000 Air Tahiti Nui miles, the dates you can use miles are limited.

Related: Well worth the wait: Air Tahiti Nui to French Polynesia in premium economy

In this case, check to see if there is any award availability on American Airlines, which is your best bet for booking through a partner airline. Depending on availability, this would allow you to book an Air Tahiti Nui-operated, American-ticketed flight using AAdvantage miles, which you can search for and book directly through American.

Maximize your purchase

As always, be sure to use a credit card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, such as the Citi Prestige® Card (5 points per dollar on airfare), the Citi Premier® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve (both 3 points per dollar on airfare). Or try The Platinum Card® from American Express (5 points per dollar on airfare booked directly with the airline, on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year), the American Express® Gold Card (3 points per dollar on airfare when booked directly with the airline) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2 points per dollar on travel). Check out this post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.

The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

In anticipation of this new route, sale flights are likely to sell out, especially at a price under $800. So, don’t dawdle if you live near Seattle and you’ve been dreaming of traveling to Tahiti.

Featured photo by Max shen/Getty Images.