Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Air Pacific Experiences Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Fiji
nicolethorpe 11:57 UTC 17 Aug 2008 | I am after any feedback about the Fijian airline Air Pacific. I am looking at a long haul flight from Sydney to Vancouver with them (they are significantly cheaper than other airlines), but I've never heard much about the company and am not sure what kind of a reputation they have. Would love to hear about any experiences with them - good or bad, like are they reliable or not? Thanks for your help! |
rotuma 00:12 UTC 18 Aug 2008 | Where do I begin. I always refer to air pacific as air pathetic as my dealings thats just what they are. I once joined there Tabua club as I was flying to japan later that year, this was back in the late 90's.I paid my membership and was told I would receive my cards etc within a week. 2 months later I had still not received anything despite calls to them every week,I was living in Fiji at the time.In the end I ended up flying to Japan,couldn't use there first class lounge as I had no card, I did try but got refused. On my return to Fiji I when and spoke to them again only to be told that there machine for making the cards had been broken for some time. I asked for a refund and they refused offering me a cheap cabin bag instead, I had to pick it up they would not deliver it. Othertimes I did fly air pathetic I always seemed to have some trouble.Once I made a booking with the sales manager in Auckland as I was taking outdoor bowls over to Fiji to give away to there bowlers who couldn't afford them and he said he would arrange for extra allowance for my checkin. When I got to the airport some days latter they tried to charge me extra which I refused to pay.They said the flight was full so I had to pay. I refused and said I would cancel my ticket and after 1.5 hours they agreed and let me on the plane without charging me. When I got on the plane there was only about 20 passengers, so I had been lied to. Another time I flew to Japan we took off and within 5 mins returned to nadi airport with a problem and ended up sitting just off the runway for 2.5 hours. We were left in the plane no airconditioning and in all that time wrer never offered a drink. Can you imagine how hot it was.I have been playing in a bowls carnival over there one year and happened to win first prize in the fours and the prize was a return trip to fiji for one valid for one year. But the conditions attacted with the prize ( blackout periods, not-transferable etc ) made it almost impossible to use. I wrote a letter to the co Dixon Seeto and got a very terse reply saying use it or lose it. I never did use it and to my disbelief found out all the other people who had won tickets had been able to transfer them or had been able to extend the use by for up to 2 years.Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was the only white person to win a ticket. Needless to say I would rather swim than fly on air pathetic and have never been on one of there flights again. I always check when booking other airlines to make sure it is not a code-share. If you want a good airline try air nz or qantas, you just can not go past them. Good luck the cheapest in this case is not the best. | 1
hardnosethehighway 02:45 UTC 18 Aug 2008 | To add the the previous bitch session. The North American office sold me a ticket from Tonga to Fiji on a flight that had been canceled months before-I arrived @ the airport to.....nothing I made a fuss with their agent over the phone and they paid for a cab/room that night but it was a dump so I ended up staying somewhere else on my own coin the next night. Their Tongan representative was somewhat resentful-she knew I was going to cause further trouble. In fact I never did-until now. | 2
mandja 13:26 UTC 18 Aug 2008 | Ive travelled with AP 4 times (incl last month) from Australia-Fiji return and never a hitch - maybe Ive been lucky | 3
mandja 13:27 UTC 18 Aug 2008 | #1 - each of my 4 flights was code shred with qantas and in fact I travelled on a qantas ticket - maybe thats why I had no dramas? | 4
pastygirl 23:03 UTC 18 Aug 2008 | I travelled from LAX to Auckland via Nadi (Fiji) this January without any hitches. True, the standard of plane/entertainment/food wasn't a match for an airline like Virgin Atlantic, for example, but I guess you get what you pay for. I booked myself on this flight because it was so much cheaper than the others I looked at. If you don't have any special requirements like #1 and just want to get to your destination on the cheap, then you might as well go for it! | 5
jobo1818 07:27 UTC 19 Aug 2008 | I flew on them from Brisbane to Fiji in late July 2008 and found them fine - more leg room than Virgin, and they give you free food and drinks. | 6
smandkjc 00:25 UTC 20 Aug 2008 | We flew interisland with them recently but half of our party got away and when we boarded the next flight the weather closed in and we could not take off. Without asking they paid for a nights accommodation and a meal which cost them more than the cost of our tickets which we thought was beyond the call considering the delay was weather related and not their fault. | 7