Getting to the South Pacific these days is as easy as getting to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and making a connection to one of several international carriers that fly to Tahiti, Fiji, the Cook Islands and even more far-flung destinations. Other carriers offer connections via Honolulu.
Flight times range from just over eight hours to almost 12. But given these airlines' modern fleets and inflight entertainment, it will seem like no time before you are checking in to your romantic overwater bungalow in Tahiti or luxury bure in Fiji.
Air Tahiti Nui
Tahiti's national carrier, Air Tahiti Nui, operates several eight-hour nonstop flights daily from LAX to Faaa International Airport in Papeete (PPT) on the main island of Tahiti. The airline also flies a daily nonstop 10.5-hour flight between Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris and LAX. Air Tahiti Nui also flies from Papeete to Sydney, Australia, and Auckland New Zealand at least once a week.
Air Pacific
Fiji's national carrier, Air Pacific, operates daily 11.5-hour nonstop flights from LAX to Nadi International Airport (NAD) in Fiji and weekly service from Honolulu International Airport (HNL) to Nadi. From Nadi, Air Pacific also services Australia (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane), New Zealand (Auckland and Christchurch), Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Hong Kong.
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand, New Zealand's flagship carrier offers a weekly 9.5-hour nonstop to Rarotonga (RAR) in the Cook Islands, with continuation on to Auckland, New Zealand (AKL).
Air France
Air France operates both eight-hour nonstop flights from LAX to Papeete several times a week and 10.5-hour non-stops from Paris (CDG) to LAX. The airline also flies to Noumea (NOU) in New Caledonia from Paris (CDG) via Tokyo.
Continental Airlines
Continental flies numerous daily flights from its U.S. hubs in Newark (EWR) and Houston (IAH) to Honolulu (HNL), where there are connecting flights to Guam (GUM), its hub in the South Pacific. From there, Continental flies to a variety of destinations in Micronesia (such as Yap, Palau, Saipan, and Truk) as well as Nadi (NAD) in Fiji. Continental also flies nonstop from Honolulu (HHL) to Nadi (NAD) in Fiji.
Hawaiian Airlines
Honolulu-based Hawaiian Airlines flies several nonstops weekly to Pago Pago (PPG) in Samoa and one per week to Papeete (PPT) in Tahiti.