It seems like the more you travel, the more you stumble upon “insider tips” on how to cut costs. Right about the time I think I’ve seen every trick in the book, we run into someone who knows an even better way to save money…and we listen very closely.
French Polynesia offers every water sport imaginable, hiking, and incredible views!
That’s what happened when we recently visited the island paradise of French Polynesia. As me and my husband were hopping our way across the islands, we heard from several locals about an exciting development for their tourism market. They were “buzzing” about a new low-cost, budget airline that was beginning service to Tahiti’s Fa’a’ā International Airport from San Francisco, California. The name? French Bee Airlines. Their new route was from Paris, France to San Francisco, California to Tahiti, French Polynesia (and it was rumored that the U.S. to Tahiti flight was just $250 each way!)
So, when we returned to the USA, we had to check it out! Was it really possible to fly round trip to paradise for under $500? The answer is…sort of. We found that depending on when you go, the cost can range from under $700 (shoulder season) round trip to under $900 (peak season) round trip. It wasn’t $500 but it was still an awesome price considering our previous airfare searches put us in the $1,200 range. Along with the local Tahitians, we were very happy to welcome French Bee to Tahiti!
So how do I get 9 days in paradise for $1,300?
We visited French Polynesia in “shoulder season” for less money and few rainy days.
First, a little bit of details on the airfares I just mentioned. Keep in mind prices can change daily, so this is a ballpark price. Second, keep in mind that traveling in a peak time will be more expensive and off-peak will be less expensive, so we try and target a “shoulder season”, the time in between peak and off-peak.
For example, when I did a search on French Bee Airlines from SFO to Tahiti traveling on Friday, August 24, 2018, and returning on Thursday, September 6, 2018. I found a flight for $876. However, I found that if you book in late September of 2018 (beware…it is shoulder season and may be a little rainy), the cost can be as low as $650 round trip! When you pair this awesome flight deal with lodging in Airbnb homes…I found a way for you to visit paradise for about $1,300 per person.
Here’s how to do it…
The cheapest way to fly to French Polynesia
Tahiti has the main international airport, and these black sand beaches.
I cannot emphasize this enough…don’t book your travel based on when you want to go. Book it based on when it’s the cheapest and then request your vacation time.
My favorite tool for searches is to use Skyscanner.com. When we are scouting out a location to visit, here’s the process I follow:
1. I go to Skyscanner.com and do a little “reverse engineering.” Instead of doing a search from where we depart to where we go (example: From: SFO, To: Tahiti), I do a roundtrip search using only the destination. In this case I typed in Fa’a’ā International Airport (PPT) in the “To” field.
2. In the “From” field, I select “Everywhere”. That way, it will tell me where the cheapest place in the USA is to fly from.
3. Instead of putting in a specific date, I click on the date and select the “whole month” button on top. It then offers prices for all months, but it also offers an option for the “cheapest month” …and this is what I select.
This screenshot from Skyscanner shows their handy “cheapest month” search option.
4. It then shows a whole list of cheap flights from all around the world. I go to the USA button and select it. For this search…San Francisco showed up as the cheapest flight option. And when I select it…it turns out that late September, early October are the cheapest months. Knowing these months are outside of peak season (July and August) and outside of the wet season (November through April), this is a reasonable selection.
5. Because I’ve been doing “reverse engineering”, I now do a real search using what I know…that the cheapest flights to Tahiti are from San Francisco during the months of September and October. I start over again with Skyscanner and type SFO in the “From” field and PPT in the “To” field. I select “whole month” and choose September as my departure date. And after selecting the cheapest departure date of the month, Friday, September 21, 2018 and the cheapest return date Monday, October 1, 2018. I found a great deal for a roundtrip flight from SFO to PPT for $625! And of course…it’s on French Bee Airlines.
One word of warning…budget airlines (and more and more standard airlines) are now offering low deals but charging extra for your actual luggage…carry-on or checked! When I looked directly with French Bee Airlines, I found that the $625 flight only includes a handbag for luggage, and no meals on the plane. If you add a carry on or checked bag and meal, the price goes up to about $750. Still a fantastic deal to fly to Tahiti!
The cheapest way to get to another French Polynesian island
We saw amazing underwater life in Moorea and also discovered there’s an affordable ferry that runs daily from Tahiti.
Half of the fun of visiting French Polynesia is to visit more than just one island, so using Skyscanner again, I did a search to find out which is the most affordable island to fly to from Tahiti. The good news is, once you get to Tahiti, it’s less than an hour to fly to most of the other French Polynesian islands. The bad news is, round trip flights to the other islands range from about $300 to go to the island of Huahine to about $400 to fly to Bora Bora.
Trying to find the cheapest deal possible, it’s clear that flying to another French Polynesian island is costly. But luckily, during our recent visit, we discovered that you can take a ferry from Tahiti to the nearby and gorgeous island of Moorea for about $25 per person round trip. For budget travel, this is more like it! So, for our low-cost travel choice, we’d go with a visit to Moorea using the ferry.
If you’re going to French Polynesia, why not island hop to places like beautiful Bora Bora?
It should be noted that if you decide to invest a little more money and fly to another island, you should consider doing a multi-island tour fare with Air Tahiti. It allows you to fly to several islands (including the starting point of Tahiti) for about $400 per person. We did this during our recent visit and found it to be a great way to explore the islands for about the same cost of flying to just one. And since each island has its own unique atmosphere and activities, it’s a great way to island hop during your time in French Polynesia.
The cheapest way to stay on the islands
By using Airbnb, we got an affordable studio in Tahiti with this view for $50 USD per night!
We keep trying to find affordable hotels, but it never seems to work. So, if I’ve said it once…I’ll say it again…book your lodging with Airbnb. Using the dates I mentioned above, I found modest studio accommodations in Tahiti (one night at the end of the trip) for $50, plus your own two-bedroom house with a full kitchen and one of the most stunning views of Cook’s Bay in Moorea for just $960 for eight nights!
Using Airbnb, you can shop around at what fits you best, but for us, we were able to have a breathtaking view of Moorea’s peaks right from our Airbnb patio for about $120 per night. By going cheaper in Papeete, Tahiti (about $50 per night), it averages out at about $112 per night total. Not a bad deal for your own little slice of paradise!
A summary of this incredible deal
We had this view in Moorea (and you could too!) for $120 per night by using Airbnb.
This is a lot of information to soak in, so let’s recap on how we got to the $1,300 price. Altogether, a red-eye flight in and out of San Francisco for two people, a ferry ride for two to Moorea, eight nights in a spacious, scenic two-bedroom Airbnb home in Moorea, and one night in a studio Airbnb in Tahiti costs about $2,600 total (or $1,300 per person.)
- $1500 for two people – roundtrip flight from SFO to PPT (9/21/18 redeye to 10/1/2018)
- $50 for two people – roundtrip ferry from Tahiti to Moorea (9/22/18 and 9/30/18)
- $960 for eight nights at two-bedroom Airbnb house with view, Moorea (9/22/18 through 9/29/18)
- $50 for one night at a studio Airbnb in Papeete Tahiti (9/30/18)
- $2,560 total or $1,280 each person
Keep in mind, you still have to pay for food, transportation to/from the airport and the ferry terminals, and for any activities you do. But not a bad starting price for a slice of paradise! And if you opt to use your Airbnb kitchen to make your own meals, dining costs can be minimized as well.
So, if you thought French Polynesia was out of your price range…think again! Now what are you waiting for? Go ahead and book…and I’ll see ya there 😉!
