When will DR open for International travel??????

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PCMike

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I am on the United official site right now. Non stop EWR to SDQ (return) is $641.05.
Jet Blue is a far better price at $374 (non stop).

I do not see anything out of the ordinary with these prices.
 

Timotero

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I am on the United official site right now. Non stop EWR to SDQ (return) is $641.05.
Jet Blue is a far better price at $374 (non stop).

I do not see anything out of the ordinary with these prices.

Yesterday morning these were the round trip prices on United.com for Newark (EWR) to Puerto Plata (POP) for their daily flight in June (prices were the same for every day in June):
Basic Economy: $368
Economy(lowest): $402

Today the prices for the same flights in June are:
Basic Economy: $546
Economy(lowest): $866

Thats a huge increase. And it can’t be caused by demand? If you look at the seat maps for the flights, none have even 10 seats booked yet. (And the middle seats do not yet appear blocked).

Jet Blue, on the other hand, is still showing the “normal” prices for June, round trip JFK-POP:
Blue Basic: $364
Blue: $424

IMO, there may be two causes for United‘s price increase:

(1) They feel that tourists wont be willing to “vacation” in the DR in June and won’t fly no matter how cheap the fares are. That the only people flying will be those who “have“ to travel there. So they may as well charge a premium price to squeeze as much out of them.

(2) United realizes that the scheduled flights to the DR in June will most likely be cancelled (as all the flights for April and May have been). But they need a cash infusion now. So if you buy a ticket for June, they get your money now when THEY need it. Then when they do eventually cancel the flight, they give you a travel certificate (good for 12 months) rather than a cash refund. It helps United’s short term cash flow as they have use of your funds for 12+ months.
 
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drstock

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Well, Condor has doubled and in part more then doubled the prices between Europe and DR too for May and June.
That's not good, but could it be because they are flying empty coming out here? Therefore they need to make up the cost of the whole trip on just the return journey.
 
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Caonabo

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The claim of that doctor is, that its 4x times more. Cases and death. Thats in a conservative estimation on the lower end, given other data from US or Italy. (like 50x more cases or 6x more death) - but at least its someone qualified going on record in DR saying the numbers are wrong.


"
Feliz Cuello maintains that the cases reported daily are “credible,” but “with an overdraft of more than four times the amount confirmed daily.”

He claims that the exact number of people who have died from the disease is unknown, as well as those infected “due to the inadequate strategy that has been followed.”

“Those who have been reporting have been clinical cases with positive results, but the truth is that the pandemic has covered the entire national territory, only Elías Piña was missing and already has confirmed cases, to the point that we have provinces with more than one hundred cases,” says Feliz Cuello.
"

You use that tabloid as a source of reference, seriously?
As originally shared with another poster......
"No, everything is not "ok", but at the same, it does not resemble anything similar to other so called hot spots within the globe we share. The biggest problem to date has been the closures of businesses, and the related economic impact. Not lines of sick people. Not lack of ventilators. Not people being wheeled out back doors under the cover of darkness. No mass graves. No riots. No looting. No zombies.
Perhaps if you were here, you could see it for yourself."
 

nickdr

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May 30, 2014
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Our American Airlines flight May 7 POP-MIA-DCA stopped appearing to be sold a few days ago. We called them and the guy took like 10 mins to look up info on the flight and said it was "zeroed out" and "will defiantly be canceled." So they basically canceled our flight without telling us. Guy told us to wait till it is officially canceled (up to the day before) or else we can't get a refund. Beyond unethical. We wouldn't have even known if I had not kept checking their official site and then called them.

Just booked another flight home. Delta SDQ-JFK on May 3rd. Gonna get a taxi from Puerto Plata all the way to Santo Domingo airport that morning. Going to leave around 6am, so hopefully that leaves enough time for our flight scheduled for 1:50pm. Has anyone been to Santo Domingo airport lately? Does it have long lines, complications due to covid19, etc?
 
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Caonabo

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I do not see ANY international travel occurring here to RD before the presidential elections on 5 July, but what do I know.
 

Caonabo

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Why is that a milestone? Is it because they have to let people congregate so after that it's not too important to keep them separate?

No, it is due to the fact that the election needs to proceed. After the fiasco earlier in the year, there can not be further disruptions. It has already been stated that the Constitution will not be changed, and their will be a new President of the RD come August. There is a limited window for the election to proceed.
The croc wearing, girlfriend seeking, foreign born traveler will have to wait until at least after the election to visit. They may keep the foreign remittances coming though.
 

oldschool

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Oct 9, 2004
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Just booked another flight home. Delta SDQ-JFK on May 3rd. Gonna get a taxi from Puerto Plata all the way to Santo Domingo airport that morning. Going to leave around 6am, so hopefully that leaves enough time for our flight scheduled for 1:50pm. Has anyone been to Santo Domingo airport lately? Does it have long lines, complications due to covid19, etc?

Where do you live In Puerto Plata....if you live in the city limits with this new implementation of cordoning off the city it could cause a problem as May 3rd is Sunday which is only day 5 of the 7 day time period that this new restriction encompasses.....something to think about if you are in Puerto Plata proper
 

chico bill

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Nobody knows yet when the hardware stores will open in the DR, let alone air travel.
Anyone wonder how big the rush to the hardware store will be ?
Plumbing parts are going to be in high demand. How much water is being wasted going into summer months because PC fittings and glue aren't available.
too bad if your cistern pump quits, or like me, my main breaker in the meter panel burned. Lucky for me I know and old electrician in Charamicos who has a warehouse of electrical items ( I think he's a pack rat) and he was able to get the power back in an afternoon with a modified breaker.
Had a hardware store been opened I could have got an exact replacement breaker & done the job myself in an hour
I just got a new faucet today from Amazon for the bathroom - Yea I could have replaced the year old one with another one bought in DR, if hardware stores were open - but if a faucet (Chinese) can't last more than a year it's well worth paying the shipping to get a better quality Delta than pay the overpriced cost of Chinese junk sold here as fixtures.
 
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nickdr

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May 30, 2014
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Where do you live In Puerto Plata....if you live in the city limits with this new implementation of cordoning off the city it could cause a problem as May 3rd is Sunday which is only day 5 of the 7 day time period that this new restriction encompasses.....something to think about if you are in Puerto Plata proper


Just checked our flight and it was canceled (the airline didn't bother to let us know; again, of course). Now looking for other options. If anybody knows of any other flights to the US (particularly EWR, DCA, JFK, IAD, etc) please let us know. Thanks!

About the Puerto plata roadblocks - we know 2 people that were able to get through them today; sounds like you just have to have a valid destination. One was returning home from Santiago and the other one was going to the pharmacy to get some meds.
 
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johne

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Home Depot in NYC was exempt from the lock down Deemed essential service. However the line to get in is about 60-75 ppl ahead of you
 
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I don’t know when airline travel will resume, but if it’s on Jet Blue make sure you’re wearing a mask.


And FWIW they just announced today the following change extension.........

"We’re waiving all change and cancel fees for both new and previously booked travel thru 1/4/21, for any tickets purchased before 5/31. Fare difference may apply. Funds issued as a JetBlue travel bank credit, valid for 24 months from issue."

Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
 

nickdr

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May 30, 2014
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Just checked our flight and it was canceled (the airline didn't bother to let us know; again, of course). Now looking for other options. If anybody knows of any other flights to the US (particularly EWR, DCA, JFK, IAD, etc) please let us know. Thanks!

Well, booked another flight (our 4th attempt); this one from PUJ-JFK May 2nd JetBlue. Will get a taxi from Puerto Plata to Punta Cana the day before and spend the night in Punta Cana (if this flight does not get canceled). Any recommendations for a hotel near the airport in Punta Cana?
 
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