United will be the first U.S. airline since Pan Am to fly nonstop to Tahiti! This morning, United announced that they would be launching a new nonstop route next fall from San Francisco (SFO) to Papeete, Tahiti (PPT), which is the gateway to more than 118 islands in French Polynesia, including Bora Bora and Moorea. The route will run three times a week starting October 30, 2018 through March 28, 2019. Flights to Tahiti will be serviced by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Table

Nonstop flights are already available for purchase for an a spendy $1,400 round trip ticket. Alternatively, flights can be booked with United miles, but they are expensive starting at 80k one-way or 175k miles for business class. Your best use of points and miles would be using the pay with miles function of American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which would equate to 140k points or less round-trip.

If you don't mind adding on a connection and saving a few points, then connecting through New Zealand may still be your best bet.

 

Timeline
Sample nonstop flight October 30th (booked with United miles)

 

Bottom Line 

Get your bucket lists ready. I'll keep my eyes peeled for an incredible flight deal on this new route and Premium subscribers will be the first to know. There are plenty of incredible overwater bungalows in Bora Bora and Moorea. I've been looking at using my Chase IHG annual free night certificate at the Intercontinental Bora Bora (lead photo), so this may just push me over the edge. Just need to convince Mrs. TT 🙂