Who's the best???

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chicker

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Jan 1, 2002
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Would anybody be willing to declare which of the "bargain" or general internet airfare sites is consistently better than the others for fares to the DR? Is it Priceline, Orbitz, Hotwire, Expedia, or something else? I can spend 2-3 hours looking for the best fare from the general midwest region of the USA to Santiago, Puerto Plata, or even Santo Domingo, and at the end of it all, have nothing but a bunch of six- to eight-hundred dollar fares to pick from. That's not what I'm after. And every time I want a price, I have to fill in departure dates, and then mudge those dates up and down to see if I can hit some kind of break point in price; then I have to substitute Chicago for St Louis, POP for STI, on and on, all these combinations. I think I'd pay somebody $50 or whatever if they would do all that for me and could come up with a $200-$250 savings on the everyday fare. And I'm not talking about those very restrictive AA specials which I think we all know about; I need at least a month or so notice (gotta stay employed).
I will have 40 days PTO next year. If I don't have to use any for sick days, I could take three 2-week trips to my favorite country, but I'm really working up a lather here trying to save myself a coupla Franklins and getting nowhere.
Am I just a spoiled whiny brat, or does something better exist somewhere?
I am open to your suggestions and recommendations.
SLIM
saint louis impatient mike
(also posted in the Open/general Section)
 
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KenoshaChris

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Jan 4, 2002
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No AA Specials

Right now Mike if you're getting a $600.00 A,A,flight out of Chicago, you're doing good. I just booked October 10 for $610.00. Thanksgiving is $750.00 if you leave Tuesday before Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving day. The day before Thanksgiving is $850.00. Anytime around Christmas is $950.00.

My A.A. account shows me specials to the DR whenever there is one. Unfortunately they haven't had one out of Chicago for several months now. In 2002 it wasn't unusual to get a $460.00 to $525.00 flight from Chicago to anywhere down there. Those days may be gone for good.
 
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Dolores1

DR1
May 3, 2000
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Would suggest you check in regularly to this Airline Info page. Contributors usually post specials. Also you may consider finding a Chicago-NY special, and then trying to get one of the Aeromar or Air Santo Domingo specials, or even AA. Aeromar is a sponsor of DR1, see their web site at http://www.flyaeromar.com/
 
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JanH

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Dec 26, 2002
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Mike - I'm scouring every day too. We just booked flight to POP from Nashville for $485. This price is good thru March and requires M-F travel. Black-out dates around the holidays.

Even tho I buy tickets on AA's website for more miles, and have alerts set up, I usually go to Travelocity when I am looking for cheap rates on any date. I think the web site is the easiest. I have an alert for St. Louis on Travelocity

Right now, you can fly AA from STL to MIA to POP for $564 (including tax). I plugged in Dec 29 thru Jan 12, but many other dates were available.
 
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kjdrga

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Mar 25, 2002
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besides all the advice already given here. I do a comparison say on expedia or sidestep, then go directly to the airline website and dig further. I even call the airline to see what else they can come up with and they can often answer questions for me as to fare difference. Especially with making some of the international connections coming back I've missed connecting flights sue to immigration and customs lines. I like to have at least 2 hours to make the connection.

When all the investigating is all said and done I like to buy directly from the airline website that way if anything goes wrong I feel there is less hassle for AA to get me on another flight.

I would several email alerts to places like Chicago - NYC and Miami basic DR hubs then look for specials from there.

We just bought a ticket to the DR on tues for this tues from DC to DR was $448 including taxes, and that was 7 days before departure. The miami route was about $20 more expensive than the NY route but we like Miami better. So we did one way through Miami and coming back through NYC.

I looked into Aeromar but they weren't any less expensive than AA and their scheduale didn't fit ours plus I get AA miles. I would however like to try them out in the future.
 
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chicker

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Thanks, JanH, for the Travelocity reminder

They do have the option, after entering your 'from' and 'to' cities, of choosing 'find cheapest fares' or something like that. That's an option I don't find on other 'bargain-fare' sites. So I give them a half thumbs up for that.
I guess I got spoiled in 2001 and 2002, paying around five-hundred bucks round trip to Santiago, taxes and add-ons included.
It just could be that we'll not see those kinds of fares again on a regular basis. After all, you can't buy a nickel loaf of bread anymore either ~sigh~

Thanks everybody for the helpful replies
St Louis Mike
 
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JanH

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Dec 26, 2002
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KenoshaChris - Palmas (Anabela & Alex) and Ecarnigan (Eric and his wife) will be down there then too. They're coming from Canada. They must have good rates up there all the time; I think she got hers for around $500.

St Louis Mike - Guess what?? I procrastinated and didn't book the Xmas trip in time to get the $485. I had no idea it would expire that quick. I'm up the creek now. Had to go to priceline.com and got them for $550 but no FF miles. I'm cooked with my family! At least I got the $485 for Doug's trip down there this past week (he went to check on earthquake damage to house).
 
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najera

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Dec 28, 2002
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cheap from miami

A lot of times it may be cheaper to buy two tickets, one to miami and then to the dr. $109 from miami to sdq right now on travelocity.
n
 
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JanH

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Dec 26, 2002
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I've noticed that too Najera. You'll see a big special from MIA to POP, but the price from another city to MIA/POP is as high as ever. But we could fly to MIA, spend the night, and do what you do. It ticks me off, royally.
 
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