Just a heads up to anyone flying on Air Moorea in the future. For what ever reason, they seem to be having some issues with their flight schedules. I just returned from Moorea, and I was also there in February...and between those 2 trips all 4 legs of my Papeete-Moorea flights had at least some little problem.

The worst was just this last trip, when returning to Papeete from Moorea. On Friday afternoon I received an urgent message at my hotel room to go to the front reception desk. I was told that our Saturday evening (6:15) flight was either overbooked or cancelled or something. I never did get the exact story. This not only affected my party of 4, but 3 other parties staying at our hotel. The woman at our reception desk tried to get through to Air Moorea all Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to get it all straightened out for us. This is where having someone who speaks French really helps! She REALLY earned the bottle of perfume I gave her!

Basically we were told there were no Air Moorea flights available on Saturday. Now whether that meant there was no room on any of the flights or the were all cancelled, I have no idea. The best they could do was put us on a Air Tahiti 10:15am flight to PPT. Our flight to LAX wasn't until 10pm that night. So there was no way I was going to hang around the airport or Papeete for 12 hours.

We, and another couple at our hotel, opted to take the last ferry (4:45pm) back instead. Our transfers to the airport were easily switched to the ferry docks instead. We did have to pay for the ferry and pay our transfer from the docks to the airport in PPT. I assume we will be getting a refund for our un-used flight tickets....at least that's what my agent told me when I emailed her yesterday.

The other problem on this trip was minor. When we arrived we were booked on the 7:10am flight. But it was over booked, so they bumped us to the 7:30 flight. Minor delay, not really a problem for us.

Back in February, our 2pm flight to Moorea was cancelled and we had to wait around until 3 for the next flight. On the way home that trip...our 6:15pm flight was cancelled and they put us on a 5:30pm flight. No advance notice at all. The transfer company just came by and picked us up 45 minutes early....so obviously they were aware of the problem. Thank goodness we were ready and waiting.

So...especially those of you who are making your own plans....you really need to confirm and re-confirm your flights while over there. They can change at the drop of a hat. If you wait to long, and miss the last ferry, you will be stuck.