TWO BIG CHECKS! (literally)

yea...we booked at the hilton in moorea and got a free upgrade from a garden bungalow to a deluxe garden bungalow...it has a private plunge pool on the terrace also...and then we're staying at the st regis on bora bora in a superior overwater bungalow...both look amazing and as much as i wanted to do a different island that wasn't moorea (really wanted to do tahaa), i couldn't afford it because it's realllllly expensive...i'm already dishing out a tonnn of money, but ive always wanted to go...

i got price quotes from pacific for less and from customa tahiti travel...both have great reps for their packages, custom tahiti was ever so slightly less than pacific for less and i liked their packages better in terms of what 'extras' they get thrown in...i've been working with jackie and she's awesome

I'd like to do that as well. What time of the year are you going? How long are you going for? I'll have to contact your agent! :)

How long is the flight from New York by the way?

i did everything online...believe it or not, people's blogs on travel advisor are sooo helpful...certain travel agents have a propensity to sell certain properties i feel because of the relationships they may have with them...i wanted to make the decision for myself...ive been reading about the islands, the hotels and excursions for a long time now...i knew what i wanted to do and began pricing options...plus if you have a specialist for tahiti book for you, they really know their islands well...plus the two i mentioned have representatives in tahiti so they get great rates on everything and god forbid something ever went wrong there, they have someone local for you...i like that security...

but i definitely suggest doing some reading on your own to get an idea of what you want, how long you want to go for, etc...travel advisor is great and so is custom tahiti's website...they give you an overview of each island, hotels available, excursions available, amenities, plenty of pictures, etc

air tahiti just started booking from NY and they are still in the midst of negotiating fares...it may be a trial thing, i dunno, but everything i booked is RT from LAX...we may decide to stay an extra day ahead and after in LA...but from NY to LAX it's about a 6 hr flight and from LAX to Papeete is about another 10 i believe...it's just past hawaii, not quite as far as fiji, and you don't cross the dateline...

we're going right after the wedding, so leaving the end of memorial day weekend into june, 5 days on moorea and 5 days on bora bora...the st regis in bora bora is supposedly unmatched in service, quality and size of the rooms, so we wanted to go there last, because ive heard when you start there, nothing compares later on...

ive had two friends go there so far and they loved it...the food is VERY expensive so its def important to get breakfasts included...one of my friends suggested she would want to go back and only do one island if she could because it wasn't worth it to her when everything looked so similar to travel...she said she would have rather just unpacked and settled in...while my other friend felt moorea was much more active and bora bora more relaxing, it was a good combo...not much to see and do in terms of the main island tahiti, ive heard its a bit of a waste...

the travel agent advised me that if i wanted to stay more than 5-6 nights, to book two islands because it can get a little played out with too long in one place...so we took the advice and went with moorea because its much more affordable than tahaa

what exciting checks!!!