Air Tahiti Nui checks a surfboard or a full dive kit for free. It counts as regular checked weight, not separate oversize cargo. That single fact matters more than most of the Air Tahiti Nui baggage allowance.
Los Angeles to Papeete carries more surfers and divers than almost any other US route.
The airline flies nonstop from Los Angeles to Papeete. So the rules that matter here are the US departure rules, not a general international chart. Air Tahiti Nui sells three fares: Moana Economy, Manava Premium, and Poerava Business, each with its own bag count.
The Air Tahiti Nui baggage allowance also depends on a distinction travelers miss. Air Tahiti Nui is the international carrier. Air Tahiti is a separate, local airline that flies between Tahiti and Bora Bora.
Its rules are not the same.
Carry-on: a weight limit most US flyers do not expect
Moana Economy and Manava Premium both allow one carry-on bag up to 10 kg, or 22 pounds. Each also gets a personal item up to 3 kg. Poerava Business raises the carry-on limit to 12 kg, about 26.6 pounds.
The size cap is 115 cm, or 45 inches, added across all three dimensions. Most US domestic carriers never put a carry-on on a scale at all. A 22 pound cap catches a lot of travelers off guard.
Checked baggage by fare class
Moana Economy includes one free checked bag at 23 kg, or 50.7 pounds. Manava Premium includes two bags at that same weight each. Poerava Business includes two bags at 32 kg, or 70.5 pounds each.
That 32 kg figure is also the airline’s hard ceiling. No single checked bag can weigh more, in any class. Club Tiare members at Silver or Gold status get one extra free bag on top of their fare.
Surfboards, dive gear, and other sports equipment
This is the part generic baggage roundups skip. It is also the reason this page earns its place for a route like Los Angeles to Papeete. Air Tahiti Nui carries a long list of sports gear free, on top of the normal allowance.
The rule is simple: the total has to stay under 23 kg including the bag.
The eligible list covers surfboards, bodyboards, kiteboards, wakeboards, and paddleboards. It also covers diving equipment, golf clubs, and fishing rods up to 5 kg.
The size limit for this category stretches to 250 cm. A standard checked bag caps out at 200 cm, so this is a real exception built for boardbags.
Gear between 23 kg and 32 kg pays a normal overweight fee. Past 32 kg it has to move as freight instead. A liability waiver gets signed at check-in, which the airline treats as routine, not a fee.
What an extra or overweight bag costs from the US
For a US departure ending in French Polynesia, an extra bag past the free allowance costs 80 USD. An overweight bag, one between 23 kg and 32 kg, costs 120 USD. An oversized bag over 200 cm, if it does not qualify as sports equipment, also runs 120 USD.
These prices apply to the French Polynesia fee zone, which covers Los Angeles to Papeete directly. Other regions on the airline’s chart are priced differently.
The Air Tahiti Nui baggage page is the source for every figure here. Recheck it before a fare change shifts them.
What the community actually reports at LAX
Forum threads on this route describe a check-in counter that weighs checked bags but usually skips the carry-on. One frequent flyer put it simply: the airline weighs the hold, not the cabin, here.
That is a real gap between the written Air Tahiti Nui baggage allowance and how it gets enforced at the gate. It explains why some travelers overpack a carry-on and never hear about it.
That leniency does not carry over to Air Tahiti’s inter island flights. Travelers there report backpacks getting weighed and repacked on the spot.
Codeshares and connecting from other US cities
Air Tahiti Nui codeshares with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines for connections beyond Los Angeles. Whichever airline sold the ticket sets the baggage rules for the whole trip.
A traveler connecting on an American Airlines ticket number should check American’s baggage fees instead. Do that before packing, not at the counter.
The bottom line
For a Los Angeles to Papeete flight, plan around a 22 pound carry-on that likely will not get weighed. Plan around a checked bag limit that scales with your fare.
Plan around a surfboard or dive bag that rides free up to 23 kg. That free allowance is the real savings in the Air Tahiti Nui baggage allowance.
Compare it against Air New Zealand or Fiji Airways if your trip routes through either hub. Weigh your boardbag at home first with a baggage cost calculator. Keep a general read on checked baggage rules handy for the connecting leg.
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