Getting off the plane in DR...step by step

Jan · Jan 19, 2004

I have a friend coming here next month. Hes never left USA before. I can't remember exactly all the steps to filling out the forms and all that stuff.
Can someone give me a step by step account of what to do once you get off the plane so he won't be too confused. He can't speak any spanish so hes a bit nervous.

La Profe_1 · Jan 19, 2004

Well

1. Purchase tourist card (sometimes possible in Miami or JFK at AA counter)

2. Fill out tourist card (be sure to have a pen handy). Tell him to have the address where he'll be staying in the DR handy since it is needed for the tourist card.

3. Get in line for Migraci?n - hopefully he'll have a passport and not birth certificate/photo id.

4. Grab bags off luggage carousel.

5. Head to Customs inspection. He won't have any trouble playing the tourist since he doesn't speak Spanish.

6. Leave airport - look for person meeting him, or tell him to negotiate taxi fare.

Reminders:

1. Watch out for malateros

2. He should have a phone number to call if there are any problems.

ricktoronto · Jan 20, 2004

Modified Tips -Better Details All NEW Travellers

La Profe_1 said:
1. Purchase tourist card (sometimes possible in Miami or JFK at AA counter)

According to AA when I last flew they stopped selling them at MIA or JFK and in the Admiral's Clubs too. He needs ot have a $10 US bill ready - go to the window (that says Tourist Card) in arrivals and get the tourist card. If he is flying charter (poor soul) they MAY give it to him for free.

2. Fill out tourist card (be sure to have a pen handy). Tell him to have the address where he'll be staying in the DR handy since it is needed for the tourist card.

Or you can put the Jaragua or Hamaca or anything else it really doesn't get too closely looked at. Especially handy if you are staying with friends etc., and the address is not easy to put on the form. Or you don't really have any great desire for them to know where you are staying.

3. Get in line for Migraci?n - hopefully he'll have a passport and not birth certificate/photo id.

Even if he knows Spanish he says NOTHING. Hand the passport and tourist card and the used boarding pass ( they put in the flight # in that computer) and wait . Then keep the little 1/2 (not really a 1/2 more like a 1/3) and give the big 1/2 to the migration guy or lady at the door to the luggage area.

4. Grab bags off luggage carousel.

5. Head to Customs inspection. He won't have any trouble playing the tourist since he doesn't speak Spanish.

Even if he does speak ANY Spanish he says nothing and they will at worst X ray the bags and when the realize it's impossible to shake him down if they want to they'll move him on.

6. Leave airport - look for person meeting him, or tell him to negotiate taxi fare.

Retain luggage - say NO GRACIAS to everyone who tries to take the bags. With no Spanish have him have the driver write it in US$ (not likely to have pesos) on paper so there is no rip-off at the other end. Write in Spanish the destination before he leaves USA so the driver can figure out a price. Give him a clue as to what the price could be, e.g. $18 for Boca Chica. Ensure the bags are actually put in the trunk and not walked off with by the dispatcher guy. MAYBE tip the dispatcher guy $1.

Somone should really pick this guy up- if he's at a hotel other than an AI they should be told to send a car and have a sign with his name.

Jan · Jan 20, 2004

I'll be there to pick him up...no worries there.
He'll be coming into SDQ Airport. He has to go to the window for something. Jeez..I wish I could remember.
Guys a little nervous and I'd like to make a step by step map for him just so he feels better. I sure wish I had one the first time I came here. I did alot of walking back and forth. Even hard to fill out the card because it was difficult to understand, even tho its written in english.
What makes it more dificult when you get off the plane your hit with the sun and heat and have instant culture shock. I just want him to have a complete step by step map to help him along.

andy a · Jan 20, 2004

Excellent advice Rick,

As usual.

I'd like to add one vital thing, though. DON'T let the taxi mafia at the airport know where you're headed. ALWAYS tell them you're going to a different hotel than where you're actually going. Inform the driver later. Insure that it is in the same neighborhood and slightly closer than the name you gave so that the driver can't get away with charging more.

While trying to get a taxi, other mafiosa swarm around, not so much to underbid, but to intimidate your intended driver from giving you a fair price. You DON'T want them to know where you'll be staying.

Those taxi drivers only spend half their time at the airport. The rest of the time they are NOT plying the streets looking for potential passaengers at standard fares. They are too good for honest work. They and their mafia buddies are at the tourist hotels waiting for victims. You DON'T want them hounding you every time you walk out the door, or go down to the lobby.

By the way, DON'T let any of the driver's "buddies" go along for the ride. The 2 of them could mug you.

Edited to add:

DON'T let him put your bags in the trunk, either, he could take off with them while you're standing at the curb. Put them in the back seat at the same time that you're crawling in beside them. If there's too many people for the bags to fit, make sure that somebody gets into the car before the bags are put in the trunk.

Jan · Jan 20, 2004

Thats good advice for sure. But we don't have to worry about taxis. I'll either have a car to meet him or I will get one of my regular drivers to take me to meet him. No hotels either. He will be staying at my apartment.
I think it is better if you know anyone here when you arrive to call for a taxi from a gopod company than take a taxi at the airport. Also first time here those taxi drivers are sort of scarry. When you don't understand the country and the way it works. Especially when you don't speak spanish.

tired_boy · Jan 20, 2004

andy a said:
By the way, DON'T let any of the driver's "buddies" go along for the ride. The 2 of them could mug you.

Is it really that bad?

Hlywud · Jan 20, 2004

Re: Well

La Profe_1 said:
5. Head to Customs inspection. He won't have any trouble playing the tourist since he doesn't speak Spanish.

I have followed the procedures many times but never #5, where is the customs inspection, my bags have never been checked in either POP, PUJ or LRM. Pick up my bags and head out of the airport to my awaiting tour rep and bus.

tired_boy · Jan 20, 2004

In England i have NEVER seen anyone on the 'anything to declare' desk. Sometimes some desks might be manned and sometimes not.

ricktoronto · Jan 20, 2004

Well, Dorothy we aren't in England anymore

tired_boy said:
In England i have NEVER seen anyone on the 'anything to declare' desk. Sometimes some desks might be manned and sometimes not.

They don't have Nothing or Something to Declare Counters/Wickets/Gates/Exits in the DR airports, just long metal counters with Xrays and bribe-takers. I avoid customs on all my arrivals through chicanery. 7 misses in a row this year (2003).

I also find that bypassing the lineup of many, many DR returnees with 81 suitcases each is a helpful way to move things along.

andy a · Jan 20, 2004

Tired_boy

"Is it that bad?"

Why take a chance? Even if they don't resort to violence, 2 of them can certainly intimidate you more WHEN they demand more money.

It's too bad that the government doesn't use part of the $30 that it charges to enter the country to provide "free" bus service to some of the various hotels, which locations could then be used as jumping off places to go wherever one needed. The amount of repeat tourism lost because of the taxi mafia and other airport maleteros must be tremendous.

BTW, that's another reason to fly into Santiago if possible. The bad guys haven't yet consolidated their hold there, and one might even be able to get a "regular" taxi into town for a reasonable price and peace of mind.

tired_boy · Jan 20, 2004

Re: Tired_boy

andy a said:
"Is it that bad?"

Why take a chance? Even if they don't resort to violence, 2 of them can certainly intimidate you more WHEN they demand more money.

Sorry, I understand not wanting to take the risk, i am just asking 'is it that bad', does it happen often? Is it something that happens and is known about?

tired_boy · Jan 20, 2004

Here is an example of a reply without sarchasm.....dorothy

ricktoronto said:
They don't have Nothing or Something to Declare Counters/Wickets/Gates/Exits in the DR airports, just long metal counters with Xrays and bribe-takers. I avoid customs on all my arrivals through chicanery. 7 misses in a row this year (2003).

I also find that bypassing the lineup of many, many DR returnees with 81 suitcases each is a helpful way to move things along.

I was using England simply as an example to Hlywud who said he has never experienced customs inspection. Some desks are manned sometimes, and other days not. Don't ask me why.

andy a · Jan 20, 2004

Tired_boy

In my early days in the DR, I fell into the trap of a "buddy" going along for the ride, although it did not originate at the airport.

I then allowed myself at their instigation to go a little farther than originally agreed. Suddenly the fare was not simply the original one with add-ons, but a MULTIPLE of it. I actually was afraid that I would be attacked. I finally threw some money at them, ducked into a local business, and called for another taxi to pick me up.

That brings up another point. DON'T let him take you farther or longer than originally agreed, UNLESS you first renegotiate the price in an ironclad way. Still, it's probably better to simply pay him off and take another one. It's simply too much ingrained in them to try to get more than the original bargain, and they'll use any excuse to do so.

The fact that they don't use meters, as even much of the 3rd world does, says a lot.

ricktoronto · Jan 20, 2004

YAR (Yet Another Recommendation)

Stick with and INSIST on a licenced taxi (that has the Taxi Turistico Logo on the door) and preferably a camioneta ( the Toyota vans not some old beater of a car. They are bigger and newer and I hope the licencing has some bearing on safety and honestly.

Hillbilly · Jan 21, 2004

Hey Jan?

Andy's idea of flying into Santiago is not half bad, you know..

It takes almost as much time toget to Santo Domingo from the airport as is does from Santiago...especially with traffic like it is.

If needs be i can pick the dude up and ship him all nicely packaged to you on the Metro! IF He gerts the flight that lands at 2:30, he can be in the Capitol by 5:30 and in your oplace by 6..

Think about that a bit, hey?

HB

NHTom · Jan 21, 2004

Airport arrival-

Is it the same at all DR airports? We're going thru PUJ & were wondering what to expect. Anything like the Cancun madhouse? Thanks.

ricktoronto · Jan 21, 2004

Pretty painless

NHTom said:
Is it the same at all DR airports? We're going thru PUJ & were wondering what to expect. Anything like the Cancun madhouse? Thanks.

They are not madhouses at all really. SDQ is busiest and frankly the lineups haven't been bad, the luggage shows up if you check it ( I don't do that anyway). Migracion really asks nothing on the assumpton you don't spek espanol and they don't know English and really what's to ask?

Customs is more of a ritual with a lineup then random Xrays, rarely for tourists.

Once into the arrivals hall there are about 200,000 waiting relatives but they are behind a barricade and when you get outside a lot of taxi shills, drivers waiting for passengers, etc.

santobonao · Jan 23, 2004

its all right when you come to dr by puj,SDQ and other dr destination.

Getting off the plane in DR...step by step

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