Fiji Airways

Took a newly refurbished 747 from LAX to Nadi in Oct, and had a lovely experience. Seat reclines almost flat, so was easy to sleep if laying on your side. Newer Airbus to Sydney. Nice flight. They do let small children in Business class much to our surprise, but with head phones on it is unnoticeable if there is a loud one. New Airbus from Nadi back to LAX was wonderful. The reason for score of 8 instead of 10. 1) there was about 7 hrs between flights, and they don’t hold your bags between flights, even though the carrier was Fiji Airways the entire way from Sydney to LAX. They want nearly $20 U.S. PER BAG!! I pitched a fit, and they finally allowed us to put our bags behind an unattended counter, but would not guarantee its safety. I am world traveler for the last 30 years, and have never encountered such an ordeal. If your next flight is more than 3 hrs, good luck!! Business class on the planes were terrific. Ground agents are non-existent, unless a plane is leaving. Also, don’t lose your cell phone on their planes, as you’ll will definitely never see it again (fell out of my pocket into seat).

In March 2014 we flew from Auckland NZ via Nadi to LAX. The aircraft were a 737 and Airbus 330, both near new and in good condition. The first first flight left at 5.30pm so we expected to have a dinner meal but instead got just a sandwich, which meant we had to buy expensive food in Nadi. Otherwise the journey was fine and the staff pleasant. Coming home the flight from LAX was rescheduled to 1.5 hours later than expected, and the flight from Nadi to Auckland was also rescheduled to 6 hours later. The upshot was that we had an 8 hour layover in Nadi and missed our onward travel connection in Auckland. To be fair the airline provided us with a hotel room and meals during the layover, and we were able to get to a beach and do some snorkeling on the reef. So despite the delays we found the journeys were of a standard that you might expect from a very small regional airline with not much flexibility, and still good value for money. Good people, indifferent meals.

my grand mum is currently travelling with Fiji Airways and I must say they are very ordinary. The company rescheduled the flights without informing us or other passengers who we saw at the airport.
we had to chase them up to book accommodation as there where 12 lay over at LAX and 10 hours at Nadi Fiji.
my old granny who is 81 and travelling alone can not be contacted as Fiji Airways are unable to advise me as to which hotel they have taken her in LAX. (or worst did they even book any reservation?) I have been on the phone few times talking to the Fiji Airways help desk the 1800 number. initially they said I will get an email confirmation of my granny’s accommodation, this was over 48 hours ago and when I call back they tell me they cant help!
I don’t think that Fiji Airways are very professional or helpful even when it comes to assisting with passenger enquiry.
For all of those who are travelling with Fiji Airways please check with them constantly for any flight changes as they usually leave you high and dry.
I hope someone from Fiji Airways reads this and realise how there system is not working for the customers or there family.
I am still trying to locate where my granny is 🙁

I used Fiji Airways to travel from Los Angeles to Nadi on flight number FJ811 on December 31, 2013. I was traveling with my mom, nephew and niece and were specifically traveling to attend my sisters funeral which was to be held in Nadi on January 2nd, 2014.

After we checked in and were waiting to board the plane, the Gate number was changed and we were given another Gate number to go to. Once we were there, the Supervisor announced that the flight was being delayed and kept announcing that every 30 minutes. Later that night we were told the flight was cancelled and was not going to fly at all due to maintenance. We requested that we be re-routed via Australia or New Zealand so we can arrive Nadi on time for the funeral but nothing was done to help us. The staff did not know when the flight will leave Los Angeles.

After waiting for hours at the Airport, Fiji Airways arranged hotel accommodation for us. After accommodation was arrange we were told that did not have a transportation contract in place and did not know how to transport us to the hotel which was about 45 minutes away from the airport. We were told to go back to the street on our own, which was a very long walk and with an elderly person who needed wheelchair assistance, nothing was provided. Later they provided taxi and we arrived at the hotel at 2:30am. Our New Year was spent at the airport just running around and trying to figure out how to go to Fiji on time for the funeral.

Our baggage was already checked in and we did not have any clothes on us to use

Due to flight cancellation, I had to call Fiji to have the funeral moved. The next day we received a letter in the hotel room that the flight will go at 9:30pm on January 1st. When we checked in, we were placed on standby. We were going for a funeral and we were placed on STANDBY? Really?

We were told to go to the gate and our names will be called if there was space in the plane. To our surprise they fitted all passengers from December 31 and Janauary 1st on one plane. What does that mean? That the flight was not cancelled on December 31 due to maintenance issues but was canceled because the plane was not full of passengers. Therefore they combined the passengers of December 31 and January 1 on that one plane which flew on January 1st. How sick is that? They have a record of canceling flights when it is not full. Use other airlines if possible.

My wife recently flew to the Solomon Islands from Denver to Honiara, Solomon Islands via American and Fiji Airlines. She had a very positive experience. Because of her gluten intolerance, I made a call to Fiji Air and told the phone attendant of her situation. The gal simply said, “OK, we will sign her up for gluten-free meals,” and sure enough she was served tasty gluten-free meals. The cabin crew was friendly and in fact when she exited her last flight in Honiara, the attendant said, “Thank you Mrs Howe for flying Fiji Air.” She was blown away that they knew her name. Kudos Fiji Air. There was no problem with her luggage getting from Denver to the Solomon IS.