Review: Fiji Airways A350 Economy Los Angeles-Nadi
- Konrad Tillman
- Jun 18
- 11 min read
Intro
Last August, 5 days after arriving back from a great trip across Southeast Asia, I discovered that I had Labor Day Monday off from college. With a long weekend and no plans whatsoever, I decided to book a trip to Fiji, with the outbound on a brand new airline: Fiji Airways!
Well, how was Fiji Airways? Considering you don't have many options when it comes to airlines from North America to Nadi, it's not bad. However, I did find the legroom to be on the tighter side.
Route- Los Angeles-Nadi
Flight Number- FJ811
Seat- 37A
Aircraft- Airbus A350-900
Date- August 29th, 2024
Flight Time- 11 Hours 20 Minutes
Price Paid- 10,500 BA Avios+ 220$ OW (107$ for Bula Extra Legroom)
How I Booked
The day before departure, I was sitting on my sofa attempting to discover where I could go on miles for a decent price. I had looked into the Caribbean, Central America, and even Africa, but it all seemed too expensive and with too many stops.
However, I logged into British Airways and found one seat left on points on the direct flight from Los Angeles to Nadi. Considering I hadn't been, and the price was reasonable, I said "screw it". Fiji, it is!
When it comes to booking Fiji Airways, you can opt to pay about 22.5K avios + minimal fees, or the minimum like I did: 10,500 avios + higher fees.
For those wondering, the one-way cash fare was about 650 USD at the time.
Check-In
With my first week of Senior year classes finishing up at 9 pm, my best mate was waiting to take me up to Los Angeles this evening. With a scheduled boarding time of 10:40 pm, and the drive being an hour long, the race had begun.
Well, I say "smooth sailing", but if smooth means bumper to bumper traffic going through Los Angeles International Airport, then I wonder what rough is 😅.
Feeling like a little turtle taking 10 light years to move a millimetre, we finally arrived at 10:05 pm at the Tom Bradley Terminal, the one that Fiji Airways and most non US carriers use (exceptions apply).
Fiji Airways uses check-in counter "A" at Bradley, and by the time I arrived, almost the whole plane had checked in. Within a matter of moments, a friendly staff member had checked me in, and my boarding pass was printed!
While I usually drop the ball on reporting stuff like this, last-minute upgrades are available on this route at a fixed rate, and with good space. The price is as follows:
2500 USD at the check-in counter
If still available - 1200 USD at the gate
On the other hand, you can bid to upgrade prior to departure, but since I had booked so last minute (and on miles), this was not feasible for my circumstances. Sad 😭.
Now it was off to clear security and make my way over to the gate. With my skates on, even though my skating is about as good as a raccoon trying to ride a motorcycle...
The Horrific Remote Gates At Bradley
As someone from the US, I do hold quite a bit of privilege, but I think my biggest privilege in life is that I have never had to board from the "other" gates at Bradley 😅. Honestly, walking over there is like training for a marathon.
You first have to walk through the main part of the terminal, passing by all of the lucky ones who don't have to walk 😅 over...
Before heading down some stairs, and beginning the lock trek over to the "satellite gates". I call them remote, because they really do feel like they are on a remote island 😅 (makes sense because we are going to Fiji!)
The funny part to me is that I will complain about walking 10 minutes at LAX, but no issues hauling my luggage 1km on the streets of the Congo. I don't make sense to myself...
Boarding
By the time I escaped the matrix, it was about 10:30 pm, and people were beginning to get ready to board. Our gate for tonight: 204.
Our boarding time of 10:40 quickly came around, and business class passengers were called to board first, followed by those in economy (by row). Even though I have status and would have been able to board first, Fiji Airways had yet to join Oneworld when this flight was taken, but that has now changed...
Around 10:55 pm, I had finally had my ticket scanned, and it was time to: enter WWE: "let's get ready to rumbleee".
Stepping onboard, we were warmly greeted by a "BULA" and shown to our seats.
The Seat/Cabin
You're welcome! I stayed behind after everyone had deplaned to get empty cabin shots to share 🙂 (more like I just couldn't be bothered to wait in line anyway 😅).
Even though this isn't the point of the review, I thought I would showcase both cabins of the beautiful Fiji Airways A350 serving DFW, LAX, SYD, AKL, and SFO.
Fiji Airways has configured the cabin between doors 1 and 2 with 33 business class seats, across 8-ish rows (8 on the left, 9 down the middle, and 7 on the right 😅) in a 1-2-1 configuration.
The cabin looks visually stunning, and each passenger is treated to a leather Collins Diamond Aerospace Seat (reviewed here on AA), 17-inch IFE screens, a USB port, and in-seat power. Of course, a lie-flat seat as well, unlike their A330s.
At least with this layout, it is pretty simple. If you are a solo traveler, pick a window seat. If you travel with your partner, pick the middle seats (unless you don't like them very much 😉).
Okay, I'll stop ranting about where I wish I had been, and instead talk about economy on Fiji Airways' A350.
Their economy cabin is laid out across 2 cabins on their A350 in a 3-3-3 configuration, comprising a total of 301 seats.
Each seat features 31-32 inches of pitch, a 12-inch monitor with free movies, a 6-degree recline, a USB port, and in-seat power (2 per 3 seats).
However, upon booking my flight, I logged in and decided to purchase a "Bula Space" seat for an extra 107 USD (prices may vary), just because it sounded fancy.
There are a total of 39 Bula Space seats on board the A350, which offer an extra 2 inches of pitch. Yup, that is it. Below is a visual reference between the regular seats (left) and the space seats (right).
Considering this was about 1/6 of the cost of the ticket more, I personally wouldn't pay it again, but to each their own (and it depends on your height).
You can also select an exit row seat for a little bit more (these were sold out), with enough space to stretch your legs until Fiji. Physically, not metaphorically 😅
So really? Could be better...
Departure
With the latecomers trickling onto the plane, boarding ended up being wrapped up by 11:20 pm, 15 minutes before scheduled pushback.
Settled into my seat, I decided to pop a couple of Benadryls (I don't take drugs, so throw Xanax out the window 😅, even though I used to have an actual prescription), when the captain came on to announce that we had been delayed...
The boarding doors were closed, so why? The captain mentioned that due to a minor disrecpenacy (I'll explain why once we land since I chatted to him) on the menifest in cargo, they would have to manually go through it all to make sure.
With the memo being received across the cabin, there was a big grunt let out by a lot of passengers. Personally, I apprecaited how thorough the captain was in this matter, and shows Fiji Airways' commitment to safety.
A few minutes later, the cabin crew came around the aisle offering complementary Fiji water. Fiji water? I thought I might be in Business Class! Until I remembered that we are flying the national flag carrier of... um... Fiji! 🇫🇯
By 12:30 am, almost an hour later, pushback had been initiated, at which point the cute and islandly safety video began playing. Gosh, made me get in the mood for the beach 🏖️.
Testing the spoilers, and setting our flaps, we headed off on the decently long taxi out to 25R for this evenings departure, and ended up being wheels up 5 minutes to 1 am. Oof, don't recommend...
Amenities
Fiji Airways won't win any awards when it comes to amenities on these long-haul routes, but I was pleased to find a pair of headphones, a blanket, and a small pillow. The pillow and heaphones were alright, but the blanket was on the flimsy side. Maybe I am comparing this to Asian carriers, but the point stands...
All in all: not bad here. I'll take it.
IFE+WIFI
Once airborne, I figured it was time to check out the IFE offerings on todays flight. While I had no plans to watch anything (sleep), there were some pretty good options considering the size of the airline.
Obviously, smaller airlines won't have the same budget to have huge IFE selections versus larger carriers. Keep your expectations in check...
Obviously, like an any Avgeek, my favorite part was the map. Top marks here Fiji Airways!
Additionally, for those looking to get work done, Fiji Airways does sell wifi on their A350s. While I didn't test it out, the prices are somewhat reasonable at 19.95 USD for the full flight (streaming), or 9.95 for the full flight (browsing).
Arrival
Arrival? But you just took off, no? Yes, allow me to explain...
Right after takeoff, it seems that my busy college schedule, combined with the two beandryl, knocked me out for 10 hours straight. Frankly, this is unheard of, even for me.
So I would like to apologize for not reviewing the meal service in this review. I ended up sleeping through both dinner and breakfast, but at least I can show you a beautiful picture of what I woke up to!
For those wondering about the two meal services: they usually have 3 options for dinner, and 3 options for breakfast (a friend just flew this route last month). Additionally, they also feature free booze, and Fiji Water (I know I said it before, but it is blasphemy 😮).
Anyhoo, by 6:05 am local time, we had passed by 10,000 feet and were soon on final approach into the beautiful island of Fiji 🇫🇯. A place that would show me so much love, and I would eventually be invited to live with a tribe.
We had a very smooth touchdown, right at 6:18 am local time, quite a bit behind schedule. Honestly, the delay worked in my favor, as I am not sure I would have made it through the whole day if not...
Due to how small Nadi airport is, a few minutes later we pulled into one of the widebody gates.
Cockpit Visit
With de-planing being quite efficient, I managed to sneak up into the business class cabin once all of the passengers had left, to have a chat with the captain. For those interested about how many check go into aircrafts these days, this was the full reason for the delay:
"So the reason for the delay was due to some loose lifejackets in the cargo hold. While the people on the ground said it wouldn't be an issue, I had to file a report with the Civil Aviation Authority. Honestly, it would not have been an issue, but had it been dangerous goods which we transport often, it would be a major problem".
By the time I snapped up all of the cabin pictures, I bid farewell to the friendly crew (can't report much about service since I slept, but they seemed well intentioned), and made my way outside past a few more A350s.
From there it was a short walk to immigration, and the line wasn't horrific (maybe 40 people).
The picture below is the international transit line. Fiji Airways often undercuts carriers who fly from US-AUS/NZ, hence why people will choose Fiji Airways instead. It's also right on the way, so it makes sense...
Side note: you have to show you have a hotel reservation and outbound ticket when entering Fiji...
With no bags to grab, I was off in a taxi in no time! Time to go grab a coffee and get some work done! Welcome to Fiji 🇫🇯 🙂.
Final Thoughts
I'm not one to fly long-haul economy very much anymore, but Fiji Airways seemed to tick all of the boxes. If I had to place the carrier somewhere, it is much better than US carriers in economy, but not quite up there with the majority of Asia carriers. The wifi is cheap, the IFE is enough to last you a RT, the service seems friendly, and the offer Fiji water. My only complaint is that the Bula Space seats should have a bit more legroom for the price you pay, but hey, for the price of what I paid, I am not complaining.
Lastly, the nice part is that booking economy on awards is relatively easy on off-peak dates. So, getting to Fiji for 21,000 points+ 400 ish dollars? There are worse flights in the world to take...
Fiji Series:
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