02/2015 - Absolute. Fucking. Insanity.

When I first started going to the DR in 2010 (not that long ago!) I could grab a direct flight on Continental out of EWR just about any day of the week for around $330-350, a sometimes as low as $300.

And then fares into POP started going up. And up. And up. $380, then $430, then $480 last year...

You know what the LOW fare to POP out of EWR (via United) is right now?

$653.

Six-hundred and fifty-three fucking dollars. And this is with more (not less) competition, jet fuel prices significantly lower, airlines charging for checked bags (and in the case of some douchey airlines - carry-ons as well).

What in the everfucking fuckity fuck kind of bullshit is this?

Fares up 150% since 3-4 years ago? (that's on the base fare, taxes are taxes)

Hell, JetBlue and United both added an EWR-STI route last year so the common thought was - we're gonna get lower prices into STI (at least). Well, fares into STI are $420+ right now - which is anywhere from $50-$100 higher than they were last year. SDQ fares have gone up about the same as STI.

Yet airfares to other Caribbean destinations have been (for the most part) stagnant for years. I looked at SXM (St Martaan) - $380 - pretty much the same I paid in '09. Aruba's pretty much the same, MBJ, same same. Hell, there are even a few islands you can get to for around/under $300 right now (Curacao, Caymans, etc).

So what the fuck is going on with prices into the DR?

And I should mention - this is specifically out of NYC. Three major airports, half a dozen airlines flying into the DR, expanded routes, huge local Dominican population...

Yet I have friends flying roundtrip from YYZ (Toronto) to POP for $400 (and sometimes even less) - and that's with the bullshit Canadian flight taxes tacked on.

It's almost cheaper to fly to Asia right now than it is to fly into POP.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by deezl

When I first started going to the DR in 2010 (not that long ago!) I could grab a direct flight on Continental out of EWR just about any day of the week for around $330-350, a sometimes as low as $300.

And then fares into POP started going up. And up. And up. $380, then $430, then $480 last year...

You know what the LOW fare to POP out of EWR (via United) is right now?

$653.

Six-hundred and fifty-three fucking dollars. And this is with more (not less) competition, jet fuel prices significantly lower, airlines charging for checked bags (and in the case of some douchey airlines - carry-ons as well).

What in the everfucking fuckity fuck kind of bullshit is this?

Fares up 250% since 3-4 years ago? (that's on the base fare, taxes are taxes)

Hell, JetBlue and United both added an EWR-STI route last year so the common thought was - we're gonna get lower prices into STI (at least). Well, fares into STI are $420+ right now - which is anywhere from $50-$100 higher than they were last year. SDQ fares have gone up about the same as STI.

Yet airfares to other Caribbean destinations have been (for the most part) stagnant for years. I looked at SXM (St Martaan) - $380 - pretty much the same I paid in '09. Aruba's pretty much the same, MBJ, same same. Hell, there are even a few islands you can get to for around/under $300 right now (Curacao, Caymans, etc).

So what the fuck is going on with prices into the DR?

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Looks like you are now having to deal with airfares that I have had to pay the whole time, except I'm coming from the west coast. Just for the hell of it, I was checking fares for late July from where I live to POP, STI and SDQ. Cheapest I saw was in upper $700's, but that included a return of over 20 hours! If I filtered the trip to an 11-14 hr time frame each way, it jumped to nearly a grand!

Looks like any sort of additional buying power that comes our way due to the strong dollar vs the peso, gets more than offset by the increased airfare to get there.

Maybe fewer trips in the future? Or simply schedule longer one's if you can work that out to make the flight cost not so prohibitive?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr. Smooth

Looks like you are now having to deal with airfares that I have had to pay the whole time, except I'm coming from the west coast. Just for the hell of it, I was checking fares for late July from where I live to POP, STI and SDQ. Cheapest I saw was in upper $700's, but that included a return of over 20 hours! If I filtered the trip to an 11-14 hr time frame each way, it jumped to nearly a grand!

Looks like any sort of additional buying power that comes our way due to the strong dollar vs the peso, gets more than offset by the increased airfare to get there.

Maybe fewer trips in the future? Or simply schedule longer one's if you can work that out to make the flight cost not so prohibitive?

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I would NEVER pay $650 to fly to the DR from NY. I can fly to Manila or Hanoi for $690. It makes no sense.To POP is only 1300 miles.

From the west coast the fare makes more sense, after all - it's the same distance to fly from SFO to POP that it is to fly from JFK to CDG (Paris), it's probably not a very popular route, and there probably aren't any direct flights either..

You are not wrong - its the same my side of the pond.

5/6 years ago - flights £150 - £200 RETURN!!! That was a great deal - these days - cheepest flights I can find are around £700 return.

It IS cheeper to go to Asia from the UK - but the flight time sucks.

When I was flying from EWR - 2008-2013, $400ish seemed like the average on United. I always went mid-September, sometimes in March and December. Other months seemed like they were up over $500 and $600 at times.

I just booked at $589 from MCO-Orland to POP for next month. That's the lowest I've ever seen it from here. It's usually $650-$800 or higher.

MCO-SDQ is usually $350ish.

mi been hitting on this point for quite a few years........POP is ridiculously priced....

the 2 least expensive monger airports for this guy are SDQ Santo Domingo and MBJ Montego Bay....
but why the heck is SDQ so much cheaper than POP........mi don't get it.......
for now you will see mi in Boca Chica and Negril.....of course if Cuba opens up for us Yanks.....all bets are off....mi want some of dat Cuban punani.......lol

of course now that all the guys think wi have in Negril is food and Red Stripe Beer.........mi not expecting a big turnout till some other guys puts up some naked Jamaican gurl pics.......

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SeaWeed

mi been hitting on this point for quite a few years........POP is ridiculously priced....

the 2 least expensive monger airports for this guy are SDQ Santo Domingo and MBJ Montego Bay....
but why the heck is SDQ so much cheaper than POP........mi don't get it.......
for now you will see mi in Boca Chica and Negril.....of course if Cuba opens up for us Yanks.....all bets are off....mi want some of dat Cuban punani.......lol

of course now that all the guys think wi have in Negril is food and Red Stripe Beer.........mi not expecting a big turnout till some other guys puts up some naked Jamaican gurl pics.......

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SDQ is less expensive to fly into because it's the biggest airport in the biggest city in the country with the most flights coming in from different airlines. Same reason it's a lot cheaper (in general) to fly into NYC than it is to fly into Buffalo. A more perplexing question is why it's so much less expensive to fly into AZS (Samana) than into POP. AFAIK, JetBlue is the only airline that flies into AZS from NY so they can charge whatever the fuck they want - whereas at least 4 different airlines fly into POP - and the lowest price into POP is $120 more than the lowest fare into AZS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by deezl

When I first started going to the DR in 2010 (not that long ago!) I could grab a direct flight on Continental out of EWR just about any day of the week for around $330-350, a sometimes as low as $300.

And then fares into POP started going up. And up. And up. $380, then $430, then $480 last year...

You know what the LOW fare to POP out of EWR (via United) is right now?

$653.

Six-hundred and fifty-three fucking dollars. And this is with more (not less) competition, jet fuel prices significantly lower, airlines charging for checked bags (and in the case of some douchey airlines - carry-ons as well).

What in the everfucking fuckity fuck kind of bullshit is this?

Fares up 250% since 3-4 years ago? (that's on the base fare, taxes are taxes)

Hell, JetBlue and United both added an EWR-STI route last year so the common thought was - we're gonna get lower prices into STI (at least). Well, fares into STI are $420+ right now - which is anywhere from $50-$100 higher than they were last year. SDQ fares have gone up about the same as STI.

Yet airfares to other Caribbean destinations have been (for the most part) stagnant for years. I looked at SXM (St Martaan) - $380 - pretty much the same I paid in '09. Aruba's pretty much the same, MBJ, same same. Hell, there are even a few islands you can get to for around/under $300 right now (Curacao, Caymans, etc).

So what the fuck is going on with prices into the DR?

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I am brand new to the game so I cannot relate...N I can understand your frustration with seeing the consistent increases over the years..

Now I am planning my first trip to DR towards late much, which is tentative...and I live in S. FLA...can you explain this?

This is from FLL:
Attachment 115834

This is from Miami:
Attachment 115835


Why am seeing prices as high as $900 from FLL...den they get cut in half to about $450 from Miami....logically fly from Miami. I have no problem with that...and I'm prepared to spend $300-450...put I just want to drive home a point...There should be no reason prices from South Florida be anything close to being comparable from flying from the north east coast. Period.

I am sure most people do not like spirit....but I saw prices from spirit:

this is flying into SDQ
Attachment 115836

this is for flying to STI
Attachment 115837

I would just bite the bullet and fly into STI or SDQ and take the caribe tour bus to Sousa.....Just saying....

And the prices are higher on the airlines main sites...the flights on "cheapoair" are one of the third party sites who fares are actually reasonable...when i fly to NY on business, etc...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by deezl

What in the everfucking fuckity fuck kind of bullshit is this?

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I just thought this was funny...:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

flights from Toronto to cuba used to be as low as 35 plus tax and all included costs were under 300 now they are closer to 500

flights from Toronto to pop used to be 400 to 500 tax in and now the tax alone is 400:eek::icontd: and its cheaper to book an all inclusive holiday than flight only:confused:

but I can fly to bkk for under 1,000 and get 40,000 ff miles as well

Been going there from YYZ for last 3 years, never seen $400, not even close. Cheapest I ever got was $600 and that was booked 7 months in advance. Normally 7 to 8 hundred. Booked for $900 this time and the same flight now costs $1250.

Of course that is CAD, which would work out to about $40 US right now. :rofl::rofl:

Flying out of Buffalo sucked balls, flying into STI did not save much and flying charter (airtransat ,$600) gave shitty days and late night landings.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by deezl

Yet I have friends flying roundtrip from YYZ (Toronto) to POP for $400 (and sometimes even less) - and that's with the bullshit Canadian flight taxes tacked on.

It's almost cheaper to fly to Asia right now than it is to fly into POP.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by distantvoyeur

Of course that is CAD, .

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cnd sucks right now:icontd:

I got 1,001 usd today and it cost me 1,227 cnd for it:eek::icontd: ( and its always a bit better rate when you get over 1,000)

Smooth...at $700's from you to POP you can fly almost any day,all day long, to Manila. For me that would be an easy decision:rofl:

I was lucky and got my $1200 when the dollar was up at 88c, saved about $85. Had a feeling the dollar was going lower, unfortunately I was right.

Even down against the DOP. Still cheaper than buying local though.... :corky::corky:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by whynotme

cnd sucks right now:icontd:

I got 1,001 usd today and it cost me 1,227 cnd for it:eek::icontd: ( and its always a bit better rate when you get over 1,000)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by NiteStallion876

I am brand new to the game so I cannot relate...N I can understand your frustration with seeing the consistent increases over the years..

Now I am planning my first trip to DR towards late much, which is tentative...and I live in S. FLA...can you explain this?

This is from FLL:
Attachment 115834

This is from Miami:
Attachment 115835


Why am seeing prices as high as $900 from FLL...den they get cut in half to about $450 from Miami....logically fly from Miami. I have no problem with that...and I'm prepared to spend $300-450...put I just want to drive home a point...There should be no reason prices from South Florida be anything close to being comparable from flying from the north east coast. Period.

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Maybe I'm missing something, but the fares from FLL look pretty identical to the fares from MIA. $450 vs $460.

The best you can do out of LA right now is $900 for a convient flight. The only good thing about it is you earn 6300 miles so if you do four trip you'll make Gold status on AA which does take a bit of the sting out of the purchase price after you qualify.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr. Smooth

Looks like you are now having to deal with airfares that I have had to pay the whole time, except I'm coming from the west coast. Just for the hell of it, I was checking fares for late July from where I live to POP, STI and SDQ. Cheapest I saw was in upper $700's, but that included a return of over 20 hours! If I filtered the trip to an 11-14 hr time frame each way, it jumped to nearly a grand!

Looks like any sort of additional buying power that comes our way due to the strong dollar vs the peso, gets more than offset by the increased airfare to get there.

Maybe fewer trips in the future? Or simply schedule longer one's if you can work that out to make the flight cost not so prohibitive?

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by distantvoyeur

Been going there from YYZ for last 3 years, never seen $400, not even close. Cheapest I ever got was $600 and that was booked 7 months in advance. Normally 7 to 8 hundred. Booked for $900 this time and the same flight now costs $1250.

Of course that is CAD, which would work out to about $40 US right now. :rofl::rofl:

Flying out of Buffalo sucked balls, flying into STI did not save much and flying charter (airtransat ,$600) gave shitty days and late night landings.

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Yeah, the $400 I saw from YYZ just this past month ($391, actually via your beloved air transat) was in USD. That's like a million loonies. :rofl:


Even more fucked up is that I just saw a fare of $398US on United from YYZ to POP - connecting in EWR!

It would actually be cheaper for me to fly from EWR to YYZ just to take a flight from YYZ that goes back to EWR to get to POP.

Madness! Madness I say!

What is the reason? It couldn't be monger demand.

Are the AIs on the northcoast now hopping and all full? El Dorado is at capacity? Ohmmm full?

That's the only thing I can think of.

Or its not POP that is the issue its the connecting flight threw Miami that you are fighting for so that's the reason they are high. But direct flights that reason goes out the window.

Let's take this to some next level type shit... I started going to DR, Dec. 2002... First trip was to SDQ cause the little I and a friend knew about DR were revolving around the capital... Next trip, did research, found POP... JFK-POP via AA at the time was great! Weekend specials all the time, $299.99 round trip, almost 1 or 2 times a month... Back then we were able to get a room at the Sosua Palace for 3 nights, 99 dollars. So yeah, for $400 bucks I would have the round trip flight from JFK to POP and back to JFK, with a room for 3 nights for a cheap price of about $400 bucks... This was of course before all the extra taxes and other bullshit they have since added on... That of course came and gone before most of the members were even thinking about going to DR to vacation or monger or combo of the two... Nowadays, there is no change I get a flight for anywhere near that price... If I can find a direct JFK-POP POP-JFK flight around $500 or $550 that's just about the best I can do...

For those that don't know, February is Carnival month for DR... If you get anywhere close to the normal flight prices, you got lucky... When I originally started looking for tix for this month, they actually started around high 400's low 500's flying into STI or SDQ, daily these prices went up about 20-40 bucks a day... I waited at first and then saw every airport every carrier I looked for, etc... going up up and up... When I booked my round trip ticket from JFK-STI, STI-JFK a few weeks ago, I got a price of around $600 bucks. That was the cheapest I could find direct from JFK to any airport... For the fuck of it, I decided to check on the price to POP and back, yes, as I thought it was in the very high 900 range and basically close to $1000!!!! Not only that, but the tickets were selling like hot cakes! I bit the bullet and booked my $600 trip to STI. Being that most of my trip would be in and around Santiago, La Vega (for Carnival), Mao, Bonao, etc... it was the best airport for my plans... Now that I see how much tickets are going for this month (for those not sold out), I didn't get such a bad price at all...

Want to travel to DR for Carnival, you have to pay the money, cause someone else will buy up that seat as soon as you close the webpage and change your mind... Anyway, Friday the 13th, a few days from now, start trip #21 to DR... I need this trip in the worst way, I have a great team of guys going to hang with, Tgunz, XXX, Camaro, and a few others... We have a few plans already, but plans are always changed in DR so no need to mention any now... Guess you guys will have to wait and see the reports... Either way, i'm gonna have a blast just because I know I will be hanging with some of my favorite wings... Did I mention we are expecting temperatures in the teens the weekend after I leave NY for DR? That alone makes it a great time to get lost...

I guess the final reason for the higher prices are supply and demand... Yes, there may be more flights on more airlines then there used to be, but shit, if they are selling out or coming damn sure close to selling out, someone is buying those flights...

Seems like the good ol days of cheap airfare to DR are long gone, but it's something you have to deal with, or change the location of your travel...