Advice on best option to travel to Santo Domingo with Dog

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meregirl

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Aug 22, 2008
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I am confused about what is the best way to go and need advice from you seasoned travelers. The situation is that I am flying my dog out of Santo Domingo because this is the only way he can arrive the same day without an overnight kennel stay at Newark. I am in POP the flight is on a Saturday and I have never driven to Santo Domingo before, although I have driven to Santiago. The airline people want us there at 8:30 in the morning because of paperwork. I would have liked to go the day before but my husband does not get out of school until 6:00 pm on Friday night, he is attending infotep and they really don't want him to miss any classes in his short program.

Option one should we try to get up at 4:00 am and drive to Santo Domingo then. We would be driving in the dark but for about an hour or so.

Option two leave at 6:00 pm to drive to Santo Domingo Friday night which I believe would put us driving the Santo Domingo part in the dark.

Option three drive part way on Friday and stop somewhere then continue the rest Saturday early morning. If so what city do you think would be best to stop?

Sorry it seems silly to be asking these questions but since I have never driving to Santo Domingo before, only taken the bus I am struggling on the best method especially since I read so much about how it is not recommended to drive in the dark. Thanks for any advice you can give.
 
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BigLongBeach

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since you are going to las Americas i bet the best route would be along the new samana highway. It is almost a straight shot to the airport and you will avoid Santo domingo Traffic during rush hour.

The drive from POP to nagua will not be a easy one in the dark especially if you will be in a compact car. Jeepeta with bright lights will be fine.

I probably would make a night out of it. Drive out to nagua directly after your Husbands class so you can mostly drive in the twilight. Spend the night in nagua and head out first thing in the morning. The Samana Highway is easy driving as long as you drive at the right pace.
 
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william webster

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Jan 16, 2009
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Should be just under 3 hours to Nagua from POP.

Another option is stay in Cabrera and then take 2 1/2 hours to get to SDQ.
Cabrera is about 2 hours from POP.
This might spare some driving darkness.

Are you taking the dog to the airport or to the cargo terminal?
If Continental, you need to declare the dog ahead of time, from what I'm told.
 
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william webster

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Also, CO Cargo is much closer in POP than SDQ.

Dogs fly cargo w/ CO

If and only if, you are flying CO - otherwise, ... you know what you're doing.

But, trust me - the SDQ scenario is a tough one.
Cargo is completely separate from passenger.
Drop the dog, pay the exit fee, check yourself in ....
 
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meregirl

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Aug 22, 2008
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ricky11 said:
why do you want to go to sdq? if you are going to ewr on continental then leave from where you are. continental has a flt from pop-ewr leaves at 1435 and arrives 1822
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Trust me I want to fly him out of POP but his final destination is Cleveland and since Continental changed its schedule for the fall there is not a full 2 hours in between flights so they will make me board him in Newark overnight and pay extra $200 for the boarding. This is my whole point in why I have to do it the difficult way in SDQ.

He is flying cargo without me and my Mom is picking him up in Cleveland.
 
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meregirl

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ricky11 said:
your dog will be xferred from inbound flt to outbound via the ramp and 1hr 55min is plenty of time to make the connection. ewr-cle leaves 2015 arrives 2150. as far as sdq rush hr, its pretty much all day
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No it is not. I have already spoken with Continental in the states and in Dr they will not make the flight reservation without 2 full hours. The freaking 1 hour and 55 minutes they won't make the reservation. I have tried for well over a week and ran into this same problem when I brought him down. Trust me if there was a way to do it out of POP I would but they won't so I have no choice but to do it out of SDQ.
 
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meregirl

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ricky11 said:
try another avenue. see if you can ship your animal via quickpak, its like cargo but its supposed to be a higher priority (may also cost more)
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Ricky I appreciate your advice but how I am calling to send him is quickpak. These are the rules of shipping a dog through continental using any type of their service. You must have 2 hours on the front end and then 2 hours on the layover. They will NOT accept him without those 2 hours. Which is why I have put this thread here asking for advice on how to go with SDQ because I CANNOT get him out of POP.
 
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william webster

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Are they making you show up with the dog earlier in the week for inspection.?

I was asked to present the dog at cargo for inspection any time within 1 week prior to the flight.
Then you show up on the appointed day for travel.

It sounded odd - I cancelled the trip.

Make sure you understand their rules.
Continental RD doesn't really cooperate with the US - makes it trickier.
 
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meregirl

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william webster said:
Are they making you show up with the dog earlier in the week for inspection.?

I was asked to present the dog at cargo for inspection any time within 1 week prior to the flight.
Then you show up on the appointed day for travel.

It sounded odd - I cancelled the trip.

Make sure you understand their rules.
Continental RD doesn't really cooperate with the US - makes it trickier.
Click to expand...

No what they are making me do is show up at 8:30 in the morning on the day of the flight because of the inspection. So that is why I am confused about the best way to go. As for the recommendation to go through Nagua is the traffic that bad in Santo Domingo that I should choose the longer way on the Semana freeway. I was looking at the map, and thinking that maybe I could drive to La Vega on Friday and then continue on Saturday morning at like 5:00 am onto SDQ. However from what you all have said it sounds like traffic is really bad to go the regular freeway 1.
 
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whirleybird

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Feb 27, 2006
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ricky11 said:
ok, if you have to go to sdq, i would leave around 0500. dont know the travel time from pop to sti but from sti, it should take no more then 3 houre putting you at sdq between 9 and 10am which gives you the 2 hrs needed. sorry i could not be more helpful
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The OP specifically stated in her opening post that she needed to be at SDQ for 8.30 am! Or am I reading it wrongly?
 
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belmont

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Oct 9, 2009
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Have you considered American Airlines from POP to Detroit. They have a 4:05PM flight POP to MIA arriving 5:15PM and a MIA to Detroit departing MIA @ 7:50PM arriving DTW 10:50PM. I realize more driving on the pickup, but Detroit to Cleveland is less than POP to SDQ. Flights are:AA978 and AA942
 
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meregirl

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Aug 22, 2008
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belmont said:
Have you considered American Airlines from POP to Detroit. They have a 4:05PM flight POP to MIA arriving 5:15PM and a MIA to Detroit departing MIA @ 7:50PM arriving DTW 10:50PM. I realize more driving on the pickup, but Detroit to Cleveland is less than POP to SDQ. Flights are:AA978 and AA942
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I have considered AA they have told me that there is no way to fly him into CLE because Cargo is closed at that time of night and also uses an American eagle flight which will not take cargo. As for your specific question, my mom is picking him up and taking care of him for me until we return in a month. I cannot ask her to drive to DTW which is 3 hours each away and then have to find overnight boarding with him in DTW because she would not be able to drive 3 hours back that night. She is already going out of her way for me, I can't ask her to do more.
 
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william webster

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Driving thru SDQ is always difficult - mornings and nights.

The Nagua route should not be significantly longer and you'll encounter virtually no traffic.
Toll road costs abot 400 pesos each way

One accident and you can miss your deadline.
 
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meregirl

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Aug 22, 2008
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william webster said:
Driving thru SDQ is always difficult - mornings and nights.

The Nagua route should not be significantly longer and you'll encounter virtually no traffic.
Toll road costs abot 400 pesos each way

One accident and you can miss your deadline.
Click to expand...

Okay that makes sense. Thank you.
 
Castellamonte

Castellamonte

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Mar 3, 2005
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Give me a call if you need to stay in Cabrera. We have a bedroom and can bunk up the dog. We love animals. If it's a smaller dog you can just walk it on because no one seems to really care. A larger one, requiring check-in, means you need to get there early and make sure you bring the vet certificate. You'll get redirected once or twice and waste an hour at the airport so budget it in.

PM me if you need to.
 
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meregirl

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Castellamonte said:
Give me a call if you need to stay in Cabrera. We have a bedroom and can bunk up the dog. We love animals. If it's a smaller dog you can just walk it on because no one seems to really care. A larger one, requiring check-in, means you need to get there early and make sure you bring the vet certificate. You'll get redirected once or twice and waste an hour at the airport so budget it in.

PM me if you need to.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much but I think we are going to try to make it to Nagua.
 
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