Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Bula Pass has expired and I missed it! Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
brrrgrrrl 03:21 UTC 17 Oct 2011 | Aloha, I was happily planning my South Pacific exploration trip and missed the very important Bula Pass deadline. It is no longer being offered to American citizens. We were planning to fly in internationally from Honolulu into Fiji and look around for about 6-8 weeks as funds allow. Setting off just after the New Year or earlier. My question is this... What might be another travel pass available that would allow us to see a lot of the South Pacific at a good value similar to the Bula Pass offering? We found the Pacific Blue Pass but we would need to fly into Australia to be able to take part. We also found Star Alliance Pacific Pass but for this would need to find a member airline to fly internationally. All I was coming up with was Air New Zealand, Honolulu to Aukland. While I would love to see both AUS and NZ we were focusing on the smaller South Pacific Islands. Our itinerary is large and we are willing to make necessary cuts to combine travel onto a singIe pass. I will list our desired destinations just to perhaps trigger some ideas, I have not figured exact routing so please don't be too harsh on order listed, but if you know which order works best would love to hear. Tahiti, Rarotonga, Tonga, Vanuatu, Fiji, American & West Samoa. Mahalo nui for the extra brain power. |
Laszlo 05:16 UTC 18 Oct 2011 | ASFAIK, the Bula Pass is/was a unique one, there's nothing else really similar in the South Pacific. Mind you, it never covered Tahiti and Raro, while Vanuatu, Tonga and Samoa are still reasonably cheap to reach with Air Pacific on their regular Bula Fares anyway. | 1
alex_carioca 23:07 UTC 06 Nov 2011 | OMG, I'm shocked!! After years, they've discontinued the Bula Pass??? I've just checked the FJ website and I can't find the Bula Pass page. I am sooo lucky, I've bought this deal in August and I am departing in December, and I just don't believe that! | 2
brrrgrrrl 08:52 UTC 18 Nov 2011 | I did speak to Air Pacific and they informed me that the Bula Pass was for the time being no longer offered to US citizens. It is still out there for others to enjoy. So now we are looking at a thorough look about in Fiji. I have seen recent posts about an Air Fiji Pass being offered for many flights in 30 day time limit. But all my searches show Air Fiji out of business. Is there another option for air carrier with similar pass deal? | 3
alex_carioca 17:19 UTC 19 Nov 2011 | brrrgrrrl, I think Laszlo's answer is pretty much it. | 4
greakly 18:36 UTC 04 Jun 2012 | Has anyone been able to book Bula Pass since its disappearance from Air Pacific's web site? I mean, earlier in this tread someone wrote that it is no longer available to Americans (not sure, whether s/he meant US citizens, US residents or anyone originating from the USA). What about the others? Apparently it's still possible to book it through Germany: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2169333 Does anybody have latest first-hand experience on Bula Pass's availability and prices or knows a place to see its current terms and conditions? In my opinion, it would be very silly for Air Pacific to discontinue it, as for many folks this was the main reason to choose AP's metal on the way from the "mainland" to Fiji. With United/Continental flying from Honolulu and a few other airlines flying from Europe/Asia I am not sure how Air Pacific is going to be still attractive without the Bula Pass. | 5
alex_carioca 15:32 UTC 17 Jun 2012 | I would send an email to info@airpacific.de if I were you, and ask. Pretend you will be travelling from Continental Europe or the lady may refer you to another office. | 6
grandfamily 20:36 UTC 17 Jun 2012 | Try Air Pacific. They have the cheapest flights, and they have some specials right now. For less than $1000.00 USD we can fly round trip either between Fiji and Honolulu or between Auckland and Honolulu. :) | 7