RTW TP Run in Jan 2026: Day 20 – Nadi (NAN) to Los Angeles (LAX)

By Nige on February 6, 2026 at 4:24 pm
Type: Post
Story: Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026 Category: Travel
Tags: Fiji Airways | LAX | Los Angeles | Nadi | NAN

From the open-air boarding and deboarding area, I followed the Transit signs and was promptly intercepted by a lady who affixed a sticker to the back of my passport.

She asked whether I was carrying anything for anyone else and then gave me a very stern instruction: from this point on, I was not to allow anyone access to my bag. It felt unusually serious — I don’t think I’d ever experienced that level of emphasis before.

After another passport and boarding pass check, there was a security screening and I was back airside in the departures area.

I headed downstairs to the Fiji Airways Business Lounge.

It was absolutely heaving, but with a bit of careful positioning and patience, I managed to secure one of the nicer double seats. I had just under two hours here before my flight to Los Angeles was due to depart.

According to FlightAware, the aircraft operating this flight was the very same one that had brought me into Nadi from Sydney.

Even more bizarrely, I was allocated the same seat again. Comfortingly familiar — and slightly surreal.

The flight was boarding from Gate 5 and was already showing a slightly delayed departure, with an estimated 30-minute late arrival into Los Angeles.

The flight plan suggested just over ten hours in the air.

Back into seat 12A — again — and it felt oddly reassuring.

The lady seated behind me was also in exactly the same seat as on the previous sector.

I knew I needed to sleep on this flight, but I didn’t feel particularly tired yet. There was no point in sleeping immediately, waking up after a few hours and then feeling bored for the rest of the flight.

So I decided to take full advantage of the excellent onboard catering instead. That would easily kill a couple of hours, after which I could settle down properly to sleep. Breakfast would likely be served around two hours before landing.

If all went well, I might manage around six hours of sleep — plenty.

Scanning the in-flight entertainment options, I opted for Now You See Me, Now You Don’t.

I placed my dinner order, but about ten minutes later I was told I had been given the wrong menu — so I had to order again.

For the starter, I chose the sweet macadamia croquettes, which were outstanding.

For the main course, I went for the chilli-charred chicken tacos — also superb. Full of flavour and beautifully done.

Then came a small disappointment. The passionfruit sorbet, which had been excellent on a previous Fiji Airways flight, turned out this time to be plain ice cream. Unexpected, and not in a good way.

The crew made up my bed and I initially managed about three hours of sleep. The bed itself wasn’t particularly comfortable, although the duvet was lovely. On this occasion, my main problem was that my feet were too hot — a novel complaint at 35,000 feet.

After a short period awake, I managed to doze on and off for the next few hours.

Breakfast was served about two hours before landing. I started with tea to properly wake myself up.

I ordered a smoothie, which was refreshing, followed by runny poached eggs served with salmon.

Overall, breakfast was decent — but by this point, I was very much looking forward to my next Starbucks.

At some point during the flight, I crossed back over the International Date Line. My clock effectively went back around 20 hours: a full calendar day due to the IDL, plus Los Angeles being four hours ahead of Fiji.

The final hour of the flight seemed to last forever.

We were due to arrive into Gate 205 at the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT).

Next up: A gallery of photos from Day 20 of my Round The World trip of a lifetime.

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Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026