Thanks, Jill.  Good ideas all!  I think we are going to look at two nights at that rate.

I had one more thought.  If you really wanted to break up the flight, honestly, what I would do is get another room night and use the room up until I left for the airport.  Seriously, I could recommend renting a car and go to Santa Monica Pier, or walk down Hollywood Blvd, or try to get tickets for an Ellen show taping (no tapings on Friday though). . . or go to Universal studios or Disneyland . . .  But if cost is the issue, all those options would put you over what a hotel room would cost, especially for the $99/night rate! Why not just chill at the hotel, get a massage, hang out by the pool, watch some TV or a movie . . . Then head to the airport formthe red eye flight. That's what I would do :-).

Most of the Air Tahiti group flights depart in the afternoon. There's just the one red-eye on the night of Sept. 21. Regardless, there is not much we can do about the lag time in between hotel check-out and the late night departure for that particular flight time with the hotel.  People can check with the hotel individually to see if they would allow a little later check-out, but we cannot request it across the board. And if you are on a red eye and decided to fly in on the same day, the flight would already be broken up a bit for the longer wait at the airport :-). 

One option is to have the hotel store your luggage so you can relax enjoy the hotel facilities before leaving to the airport later that evening. .  .

Jill,

Sense most of the flights don't depart LAX until after 11 pm theres a whole lot of time to kill between the hotel check out time and the flight departure. Is it it possible to get a late checkout time from the hotel without being charged extra? Or do you have any recommendations of things that can be done to kill the day after the hotel checkout time? Never been outside of the airport so have no clue other then sitting at the airport all day of what can be done in the area..

Booking Hotels and rental cars - Tips from Jill :-)

Here's another option for you.  I went on-line and found that the rate for the Sheraton Gateway on Oct. 3 was $164. Wow! That's way over our $99 group rate the week before!

So here's a tip.  Go to www.Priceline.com and "Name your own price".  You have a lot of time to get the price you want, so follow these steps:

1. Make sure you select LAX as the location of the hotel. This all but guarantees you will get a hotel that is close to the airport with a shuttle service.
2. Select 4-star hotel MINIMUM. This ensures a Sheraton, Hilton, Westin - decent hotels.
3. Put in $70 as your "Name your price". If it rejects it,  wait a few days and go back and try it again. If it still is not accepting it, go up in increments of $5. You can usually get a nice hotel for under $100 by using this method.

I use  Priceline for rental cars too. Always go for the economy, and try for $15/day, and go up in $5 increments.  Again, start early, because once your initial Name your Price is not accepted, you have to change too many things to submit again, unless you wait a day or two. Once it is accepted, they usually offer an opportunity to  "upgrade " your reservation to intermediate or full-size vehicle for only $5-$8 more a day. It's better than paying the $45-$65 that is usually the standard price for economy rentals!

Have fun!

Thanks for the clarity of your explaination

We wanted to offer a group hotel rate for those making connections on the way over, as this was the majority of people. And depending on the day, the Internet rates are anywhere from $104/night to $164/night. We feel confident we can meet the minimum of 10 rooms to guarantee a group rate of $99/night, as most guests want to make sure they don't miss the connection on the way over  To do another group rate hotel contract on the other end is more of a financial risk for us, as most people connect and go right home since the flights from Papeete arrive in the morning, and connections are easier to make.  If enough people express an interest in getting rooms at LAX on the way home, we will get a group rate going. Otherwise, check the rates on the website and see if you can get an advanced booking rate of $104 for October 3.It's only $5/night difference. :-)

I hope this explains it for you :-) 

Jill 

Jill what about those of us who get back to LAX on Oct 3rd

 Hot off the Press!

GROUP RATES NOW AVAILABLE AT THE LAX SHERATON GATEWAY HOTEL
For those who are flying to Tahiti from the mid-west or east coast, why not break up the 7-8 ½ hour flight to Tahiti with an overnight in Los Angeles? Olivia has secured a very special group rate of only $99/room (single or double occupancy), $119/room (triple occupancy) or $139/room (quad), plus *local taxes. Or treat yourself to a suite starting at $149/night! The hotel offers complimentary shuttles to/from the airport. This special rate is available for the dates of Sept. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21, 2012.

To be eligible for this special rate go to Olivia Companies LLC

(OR copy and paste the following link into a web browser)
https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/res?id=1203108591&key=6953A and book your room now!

*State and local taxes of approx. 14.065% and 1.5% Tourism assessment are additional.

Thanks, Jill.  Will be very interested in learning more about this option!

If you are planning on overnighting in Los Angeles on the way to Tahiti (which we recommend so you make your connection with flight from LAX to PPT in case of delays, or to break up the long day of flying), stay tuned!  We are working on a special group Olivia rate at the Four Points Sheraton by the LAX airport to use before or after the cruise. We stayed there last year, and found the rooms very nice and the beds comfy with big screen TVs and complimentary shuttle transportation to/ from hotel and airport. And there's a Starbucks in the lobby, so what could be better!

We will have information on these special rates and a website address to book the rooms in the next 6 weeks.

Jill