Tourist Card Included in Ticket Price

[tht]

It looks like American Airlines has added a 10 $ fee, possibly the tourist card.
These are the airport fees in and out of SDQ.
To SDQ https://www.aa.com/tax/tax-breakout?sessionId=Nay0SjSS1dNnSUHqBttIdkdza&solutionSetId=068ZSFQEtdWGSaS2vLQDjm4&cellId=HxfGj9rJWvUQohMEM2LejH002
From SDQ https://www.aa.com/tax/tax-breakout?sessionId=o2L0SjSbou40noxmgnhTDnOGW&solutionSetId=0INgeLwLTltERTai1VpRnaR&cellId=bAKjaQaqoz8S0p1XNDG632001

 

[bigbird]

It looks like American Airlines has added a 10 $ fee, possibly the tourist card...……….

Same with United Airlines. Copy of receipt from ticket purchased yesterday.

 

[tht]

Link didn't work. Other taxes & carrier imposed fees probably tourist card.

 

[JimW]

I can confirm it's on JetBlue tickets to both SDQ and STI now. It shows up on the detailed receipt as "L8 Tourism Tax $10.00 USD". So this is interesting.... Before as a tourist I paid the $10 tax. Now I still pay the tax so nothing changes for me. The government is effectively charging their own CITIZENS and RESIDENTS a fee now. Of course they can 'request' a refund.
Let's see... (a) many won't realize they can get a refund [ca'ching], (b) the website will be 'down for maintenance' half the time or the processing time will be abnormally long after which the citizen/resident gives up [ca'ching], (c) the agency will find some reasons to deny refunds due to illegible proof being uploaded etc. [ca'ching] etc.

In other words, the government has found a big new revenue stream - charging their own citizens to come home! And of course, [spin] all the new people, systems etc. are being put in to "make the system simpler". It's so sad. The DR people are so great but the government corruption just keeps everyone down. It's so ingrained...

See link below with image of new fee in JetBlue ticket receipt:

 

[Kip]

I think I read on one of the Abreu Facebook postings that it isn't included on tickets that *originate* in RD. I'm assuming this is so residents and citizens (mostly) won't be charged?

Sent from my SM-G610M using Tapatalk

 

[JimW]

Check this out... I went to the website they "setup" to do a refund and tried to process it for my mother in law (Dominican Citizen) who visits the US so we buy her ticket here.

The website won't accept a 4 digit CVV code! Don't purchase tickets with the Delta AMEX card (or any other AMEX for that matter). Rookie mistake...I guess the technology education center outside SD isn't quite turning out the level of wev programmers they thought they would. Typical DR...


Photo:

 

[JimW]

One thing also for all us regular tourists, I just went to the dgii.gov.do website and they're STILL SELLING the Tourist Cards online. The tourist card desks in the airports will probably remain open for some time as well. If you visit, be sure to bring your airline receipt showing the detail with the L8 tax on there. Without it I'm sure they'll direct you to the booth to purchase a [second] card. Your receipt is the only thing that can prove who has paid already and who hasn't.

 

[mobrouser]

As far as I know only Amex has 4 digit CVV codes.

I wouldn't be so quick to blame your issue on programmers. Many establishments do not accept AMEX because of the high merchant fees they charge compared to Visa or MC. And yes there is also a fee charged to the merchant for each refund they process not just on purchases.

 

[william webster]

WestJet actually hands you a card...

I expect the US carriers aren't up to speed on that yet
rather, the DR gov't isn't... not giving them the cards yet.

Imagine how many they need ??

Number of tourists annually....

 

[tht]

On AA the 10 USD fee is applied also on round trips originating in the DR. Looks like Dominicans are classified as tourists as soon as they leave their own country. These are the fees for a round trip SDQ > MIA > SDQ.

I'm assuming the "Other taxes..." at the bottom is the tourist card.

 

[dv8]

here is some more info on this:
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/05/...us10-turistas-pero-sera-cargado-boleto-aereo/
and the process of claiming your 10 bucks back:
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...res-tarjeta-de-turismo-por-internet-DI9846995

 

[bienamor]

Tickets sold in the Dominican Republic will not include the tourist card charge. Airline tickets purchased by in transit passengers are also exempt.

The way I'm reading this if you buy your ticket online using travelocity AA, etc your going to get charged the 10 bucks as the tickets were not sold in the DR. maybe have to use a DR agency? or maybe buy from airline office here?

 

[SF61]

I have flown West Jet, Air Canada, Air Transat and last year SunWing from Canada. Have been handed a card on every flight. I have always assumed the cost was hidden in the Dominican taxes and other section of the bill. Trying to recover the expense according to what I have read here seems like more effort than it is worth. IMHO

 

[william webster]

I think the tourist card applies to all incoming flights.... not whether bought in RD.

As to collecting a refund...
Giving your card on the WWW is dangerous enough.
Giving it to a DR website might be a bit riskier.

I think I'll pass...
as in 'Pass the rum '

 

[bigbird]

I think the tourist card applies to all incoming flights.... not whether bought in RD.

As to collecting a refund...
Giving your card on the WWW is dangerous enough.
Giving it to a DR website might be a bit riskier.

I think I'll pass...
as in 'Pass the rum '

ahhhh, perfect solution to the refund. Show proof of citizenship or residence and get a $10 voucher towards the purchase of a bottle of rum.

 

[william webster]

And tour of the rum factory .. be it Brugal or Barcelo.....better yet, guided tour of Messirs Kirk &Sweeney’s factory

Hahaha

 

[Dr_Taylor]

Check this out... I went to the website they "setup" to do a refund and tried to process it for my mother in law (Dominican Citizen) who visits the US so we buy her ticket here.

The website won't accept a 4 digit CVV code! Don't purchase tickets with the Delta AMEX card (or any other AMEX for that matter). Rookie mistake...I guess the technology education center outside SD isn't quite turning out the level of wev programmers they thought they would. Typical DR...


Photo:

Did you try the three digit code? The AMEX card contains both a three digit and four digit code. The Three digit code is on the rear beyond the signature box.

 

[JimW]

Did you try the three digit code? The AMEX card contains both a three digit and four digit code. The Three digit code is on the rear beyond the signature box.

Hi Dr_Taylor,

The three digit code on the back of an AMEX is the Card Identification Data (CID) number. It can't be used for Card-not-present (CNP) purchases. You will get a decline. You need to use only the CVV number on the front of an AMEX card.

The problem is that DGII themselves only take Mastercard/Visa so they're only set to process (or refund) against those systems. However a consumer on an airline's website may purchase their ticket with an wide variety of payment methods (e.g., carriers usually accept AMEX and Discover and some even PayPal). If you purchase with an AMEX or Discover, while the $10 tourism tax is charged to your card, DGII doesn't have a way of refunding to those cards.

As I put in my original post, it's a usual not-well-thought-out DR government plan. No thought of all the possible complications or downstream implications. I'm sure the only thought was that they would take in more tax revenue because the refund process wouldn't be used by everyone. It's one thing to tax tourists a tourism fee but [IMHO] really low to tax their own citizens & residents.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

I don't recall reading that you need to refund to the same credit card you may have used to purchase the ticket. Just request a credit to a visa or mastercard. Anyone with an amex probably has at least one of the other two.

 

[JimW]

I don't recall reading that you need to refund to the same credit card you may have used to purchase the ticket. Just request a credit to a visa or mastercard. Anyone with an amex probably has at least one of the other two.

Hi Cdn_Gringo,

That's normal. You probably wouldn't see it saying it could or could not be refunded to the same card. In-the-weeds details such as as that generally aren't included in things such as press releases as mentioned earlier in this post on Diario Libre.

To find out details you need to dig deeper. Try the DGII refund link listed in this thread. Once you get to the credit card refund screen you will see it says "Enter the information of the card which which you made the purchase of the air ticket".

Here's a photo link:

So the only option they'll accept is if you purchased on a VISA or MC. (another giveaway is that there's a drop down "Payment Method". There's only two options, 'MasterCard' or 'VISA')

As noted, they government didn't take into account all the other forms of payment vehicles that could be used. From JetBlue's website for example: "JetBlue accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card, American Express, Japan Credit Bureau (JCB), Diners Club and UATP as forms of payment". (I don't know about all the other international airlines that fly into the DR but I assume they accept a variety of credit cards too).

The government clearly didn't think through all the possible options that would need to be considered by this new process (Project Management 101!). And the sad thing is again, this will hit their own citizens and residents the hardest since they now have this stealth tax auto-added and only those willing to fight for their $10 back will get it. (and yes, according to the press release DGII promises to process the refund within 5 days. Anyone here who has tried to apply for anything in the DR - residency, a bank account, copy of birth cert etc. knows nothing happens in 5 days)!