Info needed (Miami > DR March 2005)

Try travelocity.com use there fair wathcher alert. They will send you an email when flights are cheap. Try to book AA. They are in my opinion the most reliable. It all depends into what city your flying into for example Puerto Plata is a lot more expensive than Santo Domingo. You can also call MK Tours and speak to an agent, they have chartered flights and also use AA. By well in advance is my suggestion. You can get the number for Mk tours at www.mktours.com
Minni

ps. check flights leaving fort lauderdale. they may be cheaper.

There is talk of Spirit flying to the DR from Florida. Would wait for then.

Tampa to DR

Driving from Tampa to Miami and back can be a bit tedious.

I also live in Tampa and would suggest you consider taking Amtrak from Tampa to Miama. The 7am departure Tampa Amtrak departure works well with the 3pm AA departure from Miami to Santiago and return.

Cost for Amtrak is approx $64 round trip per person for adults. Im not sure how much for children, but I would expect it to be reasonable.

What's nice about this routing is you can park free at the Tampa Amtrak station. Depending on how long you stay in the DR, parking in Miami can add up fast plus the kids would love Amtrak. It's pretty comfortable. First time I ever rode on an American train-it was ok. Arriving in Miami and going to the airport is less than 5 miles from the Miami Amtrak station. You can easily take the bus or a taxi. The bus route goes direct from Amtrak to the Miami airport. No connections needed.

The AA flight to Santiago leaves around 3pm and gets in around 8pm. The return trip from Santiago all the way back to Tampa works well to at least it did back last Feb.

My wife and I did this and found it to be excellent, plus the AA flight to Santiago was less $$$$ than Puerto Plata. Im not sure about Punta Cana or Santa Domingo.

I also liked flying into Santiago. Would you believe AA even ran a movie for us and we all stayed on the airplane for a few minutes after landing to watch the ending of Finding Nemo. It was probably one of the best AA flights I've had. I also thought the Santiago airport was very nice.

Another possibility to consider is a charter that leaves out of Sanford (Orlando) Florida direct to the DR during the winter months. Perhaps some day one of the airlines will realize there is a market in Tampa and Orlando.

Hope these ideas are helpful to you.

Jack