Sto. Dom. < PUJ via APTPRA ??

[Lucas61]

Hello All,

I hope you are safe and happy!

Please don't answer my post unless you have direct experience. Hearsay is problematic. Regarding my question (following), I am in the process of evaluating it but, meanwhile, I thought I could get a quick heads-up here and maybe some additional advice.

I need to take the bus from Sto. Dom. to the Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ). A principal transport company appears to be aptpra.com which has buses leaving from Calle Ravelo, on the south side of Parque Enriquillo on Duarte. In googling, it could be that Bavaro Express is the same. And, again, in googling, there are claims that I can take this bus direcctly to the airport. Other reports contradict that and say that I must take a guagua from the bus station. Hmmm. For international travel, and loaded down, I'm not really feeling like taking any old guagua to the airport, so probably a taxi or Uber, if it is the case that there is no direct bus to the airport. Please clarify as well as give any useful suggestions you may have.

The following is not relevant to my post but I am offering it as FYI. They say that if something appears too good to be true that it probably is not true. I have made a discovery that appears too good to be true but seems to be true. In Q4 I will be leaving for Germany and Netherlands for October, November, and part of December. A budget German airline, Condor, from SDQ has direct flights to Frankfurt but it is loaded with add-on cost "gotchas" and is expensive. The best I can find from Travelocity costs about RD$42,000 one way, 24 hours, with a horrible airport overnight. Now I find out that there is an airline that's been in existence for 20 or so years, headquartered in Germany, which flies from PUJ to either Amsterdam or Brussels for an amazing price of RD$18,000 pesos, a direct flight, around nine hours. Further, as I scrutinize the website and do a test ticket purchase, then abort, it appears that this company pulls no punches: (1) a personal item and a hand-carry luggage for the overhead compartment are FREE although you have to observe the weight and dimension limits. The dimension limit for the personal item is quite small. I'll have to buy a smaller backpack, (2) The fees for checked luggage are cheap, about 30 Euros per. There are price graduations for differet weights, so you can evaluate this in advance, (3) Roughly, there are three flights per week, (4) You get a nice spread of differing costs depending on the day. I'm flying during the low season in October but I still found the prices to be low for March. A German fellow I spoke with regularly flies from PUJ. He can't understand why other Germans have never heard of this company. You can check the website yourself and see what you think: tuifly.be In the domain name, "be" is for Belgium. There are great hostels in Brussels for about 50 Euro per day. You can easily take an ICE train to Germany (the countries share a border) or anywhere else in Europe, including London. Three hundred bucks to Europe, without strings attached, is amazing! (And if you do find strings attached, let us know!)

 

[josh2203]

Hello All,

I hope you are safe and happy!

Please don't answer my post unless you have direct experience. Hearsay is problematic. Regarding my question (following), I am in the process of evaluating it but, meanwhile, I thought I could get a quick heads-up here and maybe some additional advice.

I need to take the bus from Sto. Dom. to the Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ). A principal transport company appears to be aptpra.com which has buses leaving from Calle Ravelo, on the south side of Parque Enriquillo on Duarte. In googling, it could be that Bavaro Express is the same. And, again, in googling, there are claims that I can take this bus direcctly to the airport. Other reports contradict that and say that I must take a guagua from the bus station. Hmmm. For international travel, and loaded down, I'm not really feeling like taking any old guagua to the airport, so probably a taxi or Uber, if it is the case that there is no direct bus to the airport. Please clarify as well as give any useful suggestions you may have.

Direct experience, we have done this: As far as we saw, the aptra thing (I can't spell that), is Bavaro Express. The starting station in Santo Domingo is Calle Juan Sánchez Ramírez No. 31, Plaza Girasoles, Gazcue which is on Maximo Gomez near Pizza Hut. THEN, the bus will have it's first stop at Terminal APTPRA Calle Ravelo (Parque Enriquillo) and then a third stop going out of Santo Domingo after the bridge... So you will spend the first 1.5 hours in the bus in Santo Domingo.

Unless things have changed, the bus will stop right in front of the departures lounge in PUJ, so no need for any other transportation. The driver will also most likely confirm your airline to leave you at the right spot...

 

[josh2203]

Adding:
Good thing to note is that the bus does take you to the airport on the way to Bavaro, but NOT on the way from Bavaro back to Santo Domingo, for that you do need to get yourself from the airport to the bus terminal and then get to the bus there.

Expreso Bávaro - Paradas de autobús en el trayecto de Bávaro-Punta Cana a Santo Domingo

Conozca los inicios de Expreso Bávaro y los planes de futuro de nuestra empresa de autobuses de Santo Domingo a Bávaro Punta Cana

www.expresobavaro.com

 

[Lucas61]

Direct experience, we have done this: As far as we saw, the aptra thing (I can't spell that), is Bavaro Express. The starting station in Santo Domingo is Calle Juan Sánchez Ramírez No. 31, Plaza Girasoles, Gazcue which is on Maximo Gomez near Pizza Hut. THEN, the bus will have it's first stop at Terminal APTPRA Calle Ravelo (Parque Enriquillo) and then a third stop going out of Santo Domingo after the bridge... So you will spend the first 1.5 hours in the bus in Santo Domingo.

Unless things have changed, the bus will stop right in front of the departures lounge in PUJ, so no need for any other transportation. The driver will also most likely confirm your airline to leave you at the right spot...

This is great. Thanks. This is exactly what I needed to know. At first, when I read your reply, I thought that it was mandatory that I use the station in Gazcue. Now I see I can use any station. Since I live near Enriquillo, I will use that one. Am I correct? Any station? Regarding the abundant time you stay in Sto. Dom. it's the usual story: the transport vehicles take their time waiting to fill up to maximize their profit. PUJ has both a domestic and an international terminal. I'm assuming that the driver will pass the international terminala as well, right? In fact, probably most of the transportation from PUJ is international anyway.

 

[Lucas61]

Adding:
Good thing to note is that the bus does take you to the airport on the way to Bavaro, but NOT on the way from Bavaro back to Santo Domingo, for that you do need to get yourself from the airport to the bus terminal and then get to the bus there.

Expreso Bávaro - Paradas de autobús en el trayecto de Bávaro-Punta Cana a Santo Domingo

Conozca los inicios de Expreso Bávaro y los planes de futuro de nuestra empresa de autobuses de Santo Domingo a Bávaro Punta Cana

www.expresobavaro.com

I'm not sure what you mean about the return trip: That the bus does not take you to SDQ on the return or something else? I would assume that when we return to Sto. Dom. that the bus will stop at the same three stations it departed from, no?

 

[Lucas61]

O.P. @josh2203 <<< Oh, just thought of something else. When I want to return from the PUJ airport to Sto.Dom., is there a place to buy tickets at the airport or is it curbside service and I have to wait for the bus to show up and pay in cash? And, of course, in advance, I would need to know the airport pickup times or I could be standing there for a long time . . .

 

[SKY]

O.P. @josh2203 <<< Oh, just thought of something else. When I want to return from the PUJ airport to Sto.Dom., is there a place to buy tickets at the airport or is it curbside service and I have to wait for the bus to show up and pay in cash? And, of course, in advance, I would need to know the airport pickup times or I could be standing there for a long time . . .

I can help you with this. You cannot buy tickets at the airport. You need to take a taxi or gua gua to Fruisa. Cost for taxi is about $30 US. Don't really know about a Gua Gua, but I believe there is one outside the airport. A bit of a walk. And as far as stopping in SD it is the same as leaving.........Also you cannot get on the bus at the airport, you will have to go to Fruisa..............

 

[Lucas61]

I can help you with this. You cannot buy tickets at the airport. You need to take a taxi or gua gua to Fruisa. Cost for taxi is about $30 US. Don't really know about a Gua Gua, but I believe there is one outside the airport. A bit of a walk. And as far as stopping in SD it is the same as leaving.........

What is Fruisa? No idea. It seems that you are suggesting that I need to return to an APTPRA local station and that even though I can be dropped off at the PUJ airport, that I cannot return to Sto. Dom. from the airport. Is that correct? $30.00 from where to where?? No way will I pay that. The entire bus trip from Sto. Dom. to PUJ is SEVEN dollars.

 

[SKY]

What is Fruisa? No idea. It seems that you are suggesting that I need to return to an APTPRA local station and that even though I can be dropped off at the PUJ airport, that I cannot return to Sto. Dom. from the airport. Is that correct? $30.00 from where to where?? No way will I pay that. The entire bus trip from Sto. Dom. to PUJ is SEVEN dollars.

Yes you have to get the bus back at either Fruisa or Veron. Both will cost you. Fruisa is a 15-20 minutes ride by car...............

 

[josh2203]

I can help you with this. You cannot buy tickets at the airport. You need to take a taxi or gua gua to Fruisa. Cost for taxi is about $30 US. Don't really know about a Gua Gua, but I believe there is one outside the airport. A bit of a walk. And as far as stopping in SD it is the same as leaving.........Also you cannot get on the bus at the airport, you will have to go to Fruisa..............

Exactly, so as I wrote, on the way back to the capital, the bus does not pass by the terminal anymore, you have to leave it, go to the bus terminal and there purchase your ticket.

 

[josh2203]

I'm not sure what you mean about the return trip: That the bus does not take you to SDQ on the return or something else? I would assume that when we return to Sto. Dom. that the bus will stop at the same three stations it departed from, no?

Sorry, to clarify: In direction Santo Domingo - Bavaro, the bus stops at the PUJ airport. In direction Bavaro-Santo Domingo, the bus DOES NOT STOP at the airport at all, so you have to exit the airport and find your way to the bus terminal. The stops in Santo Domingo are the same on the way back.

Please see here the stops when going from PUJ/Bavaro to Santo Domingo:

Expreso Bávaro - Paradas de autobús en el trayecto de Bávaro-Punta Cana a Santo Domingo

Conozca los inicios de Expreso Bávaro y los planes de futuro de nuestra empresa de autobuses de Santo Domingo a Bávaro Punta Cana

www.expresobavaro.com

 

[Lucas61]

Yes you have to get the bus back at either Fruisa or Veron. Both will cost you. Fruisa is a 15-20 minutes ride by car...............

I asked you what is Fruisa? I've never been there. A town? A company? And Veron, too. No idea what it is or where.

 

[SKY]

I asked you what is Fruisa? I've never been there. A town? A company? And Veron, too. No idea what it is or where.

They are towns. What did you think they were?,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Lucas61]

They are towns. What did you think they were?,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

They are proper nouns. They could be anything. There is nothing about the form of these nouns, unless you had previous knowledge, to indicate that they woudl be geographical places. When someone like me posts about something that s(he) knows little or nothing about it behooves the responder to explain.

 

[Pikobello]

Hello All,

I hope you are safe and happy!

Please don't answer my post unless you have direct experience. Hearsay is problematic. Regarding my question (following), I am in the process of evaluating it but, meanwhile, I thought I could get a quick heads-up here and maybe some additional advice.

I need to take the bus from Sto. Dom. to the Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ). A principal transport company appears to be aptpra.com which has buses leaving from Calle Ravelo, on the south side of Parque Enriquillo on Duarte. In googling, it could be that Bavaro Express is the same. And, again, in googling, there are claims that I can take this bus direcctly to the airport. Other reports contradict that and say that I must take a guagua from the bus station. Hmmm. For international travel, and loaded down, I'm not really feeling like taking any old guagua to the airport, so probably a taxi or Uber, if it is the case that there is no direct bus to the airport. Please clarify as well as give any useful suggestions you may have.

The following is not relevant to my post but I am offering it as FYI. They say that if something appears too good to be true that it probably is not true. I have made a discovery that appears too good to be true but seems to be true. In Q4 I will be leaving for Germany and Netherlands for October, November, and part of December. A budget German airline, Condor, from SDQ has direct flights to Frankfurt but it is loaded with add-on cost "gotchas" and is expensive. The best I can find from Travelocity costs about RD$42,000 one way, 24 hours, with a horrible airport overnight. Now I find out that there is an airline that's been in existence for 20 or so years, headquartered in Germany, which flies from PUJ to either Amsterdam or Brussels for an amazing price of RD$18,000 pesos, a direct flight, around nine hours. Further, as I scrutinize the website and do a test ticket purchase, then abort, it appears that this company pulls no punches: (1) a personal item and a hand-carry luggage for the overhead compartment are FREE although you have to observe the weight and dimension limits. The dimension limit for the personal item is quite small. I'll have to buy a smaller backpack, (2) The fees for checked luggage are cheap, about 30 Euros per. There are price graduations for differet weights, so you can evaluate this in advance, (3) Roughly, there are three flights per week, (4) You get a nice spread of differing costs depending on the day. I'm flying during the low season in October but I still found the prices to be low for March. A German fellow I spoke with regularly flies from PUJ. He can't understand why other Germans have never heard of this company. You can check the website yourself and see what you think: tuifly.be In the domain name, "be" is for Belgium. There are great hostels in Brussels for about 50 Euro per day. You can easily take an ICE train to Germany (the countries share a border) or anywhere else in Europe, including London. Three hundred bucks to Europe, without strings attached, is amazing! (And if you do find strings attached, let us know!)

Hey Lucas
All this I do every year. I take the bus from the Gazcue Station to PUJ Airport and fly with TUI to Bruessel. Best and cheapest way to go to Germany or Netherland.
Yes the bus let you out in front of the terminal. When I returne I stay one night in Punta Cana and take the bus at Friusa the next day. I always book a hotel on booking.com and the Taxi too ( the taxi cost you about 15 dollars or less this way}.

 

[Lucas61]

Sorry, to clarify: In direction Santo Domingo - Bavaro, the bus stops at the PUJ airport. In direction Bavaro-Santo Domingo, the bus DOES NOT STOP at the airport at all, so you have to exit the airport and find your way to the bus terminal. The stops in Santo Domingo are the same on the way back.

Please see here the stops when going from PUJ/Bavaro to Santo Domingo:

Expreso Bávaro - Paradas de autobús en el trayecto de Bávaro-Punta Cana a Santo Domingo

Conozca los inicios de Expreso Bávaro y los planes de futuro de nuestra empresa de autobuses de Santo Domingo a Bávaro Punta Cana

www.expresobavaro.com

Got it. Thank you very much.

 

[Lucas61]

Hey Lucas
All this I do every year. I take the bus from the Gazcue Station to PUJ Airport and fly with TUI to Bruessel. Best and cheapest way to go to Germany or Netherland.
Yes the bus let you out in front of the terminal. When I returne I stay one night in Punta Cana and take the bus at Friusa the next day. I always book a hotel on booking.com and the Taxi too ( the taxi cost you about 15 dollars or less this way}.

@Pikobello : Thanks for these additional suggestions. Great to hear that TUI is real and not a dream! I'm amazed.

 

[Notengo]

I have used TUI a lot in the past but I am using other routes nowadays for similar prices . Several reasons for that:
- driving to and parking at Brussels, transport between PUJ and SD add a lot of time and organizing. Directly to SD with a stopover is almost as long.
- I often had long delays with TUI
- They often have combined flights with an extra stop in Montego Bay or Bonaire before going to Europe. They do not show that when booking.
- there are good deals to find from EU to Santo Domingo via New York or Madrid.

TUI is a charter and does not show up in regular ticket search engines. But you can get good prices if you shop the right dates. My cheapest tickets were 199eu one way PUJ-Brussels!

 

[Fulano2]

@Nogengo.
We only use Tui. 9 Hours BRU-PUJ. There is one flight a week, sometimes two that make stopovers in Montego. We avoid these but they are even cheaper than the direct flights.
In all those years I had two serious delays, the last time was because of a drunk Brit.
The plane had to return to PUJ.
As we “live” in the Rio San Juan area, to get home is a hell of a ride. At least five hours.

 

[Lucas61]

I have used TUI a lot in the past but I am using other routes nowadays for similar prices . Several reasons for that:
- driving to and parking at Brussels, transport between PUJ and SD add a lot of time and organizing. Directly to SD with a stopover is almost as long.
- I often had long delays with TUI
- They often have combined flights with an extra stop in Montego Bay or Bonaire before going to Europe. They do not show that when booking.
- there are good deals to find from EU to Santo Domingo via New York or Madrid.

TUI is a charter and does not show up in regular ticket search engines. But you can get good prices if you shop the right dates. My cheapest tickets were 199eu one way PUJ-Brussels!

When looking at the TUI website, I experienced a well-designed UI as well as complete honesty with respect to what is free and what is not, so that bodes well for the credibility of this company. You mentioned that sometimes there are routing to other airports. That would be a disappointment but not a deal-breaker by virtue of the tremendous savings. Sure, it's a hassle not being able to leave from SDQ. My wife and I will try a test run to the PUJ airport as well as a two night trial in a hotel--make a mini-vacation--to sort out the logistics. When I do make my flight to BRU I like a big time buffer at the airport in case there are problems. And I don't like surprises, so we'll do a test run.

What do you mean by long delays with TUI? I see that there are three flights per week, every other day, from PUJ < BRU. Do you mean a delay of hours or a delay such that you have to wait days?