Going to Europe you don't need to claim your baggage until your final destination. US NO, you have to go through customs with your bags and recheck them. Real pain, and possibly missed connection to boot...............
- Thread starter NALs
- Start date
Au Revoir Air France?
And, of course I get my luggage searched every single time when I went through Miami😖😖😖.
Last time they need 4 confirmations from 3 different people that the " dulce de mani " I had in a tuppaware, was not a bio-weapon !!! W⚓s🙄.
Whereas, DR to europe ( w/o going through the US ), you can stuff your suitcase with avocados and mangos, one way. And cheese the other way 👍👍.
If you fly out of Vancouver or Toronto into the USA you go through US customs in those airports (DURING REGULAR WORKING HOURS) and don't have to go through customs when you land in the US. If you are catching the redeye flights, you will have to go through customs. I don't like going through NYC, LA or Chicago. I used to hate Newark, but it is vastly improved. I am assuming the volume just isn't there for full year schedule for Air France.
I suspect they also cannot compete (on price) with Air Carïbe also flying to Punta Cana from Paris.
e.g. my favorites:
AMS-PTY by KLM, PTY-SDQ by Copa
AMS-JFK by KLM, JFK-SDQ by Delta
AMD-MAD by KLM, MAD-SDQ by Iberia
BRU-PUJ by TUI Belgium
Almost daily frights by Air Europe (via Madrid)
I am looking at Iberia Madrid to SDQ next time. First Hamburg to Madrid with Iberia
Check also TUI Belgium (destination PUJ) or KLM (via Panama) sometimes you can save about EUR 300 or more on a ticket. Good luck
UK visitors here recently did the 5hr+ drive to PUJ from Cabrera to get a direct flight and avoid plane changes
Eurowings Discover as well. Flight always PACKED with German tourists flying to PUJ.
I bet some French charter will fill the void. In Las Terrenas there are still many French
If they don't fill the void, will the French have to go to Spain or Germany to come here?
I don't know. When the British airlines pulled out of Puerto Plata when many Brits wanted to come here they were not replaced.
I dont think they would even try to compete on price, tbh.
Whatever may be said on dr1, the DR still attracts mainly low-cost tourists.
Even on regular routes --- like Madrid/SD--- the plane configurations are 💩💩 and old. They cram as many people as possible in them.
Buisness tickets are so not worth it to and from the DR.
I see ( well saw, as I have given up going through the US ) the difference, on the same company ( be it AirFrance, BA, Iberia and their respective alliances ) doing Europe/US/DR compared to Europe/DR. The plane configurations are years ahead.
And the crazy part is if you are organized and get your tickets well in advance, its cheaper to go through the US.
It might be cheaper to go through the US, but who wants to have to get their bags in the US and go through Customs and then re-check your bag again. Then have to go through Customs again in Europe.
Not for me.................
AF will continue flying e.g. to the US, so transfer from JFK is still possible. Only no direct flights from Paris (Thought AF will only fly the winterseason to DR?)