airfare BOSTON to POP

sunman6 · #1 06-10-2002, 12:25 PM

Any ideas on cheap airfare from Boston to Puerto Plata? Do the charters sell their unsold seats and how last minute would that be? We are very flexible as to schedule so this is a possibility. I'm assuming that we'd easily find accomodations on short notice in Las Terrenes.

Dolores · #2 06-10-2002, 06:14 PM

Yes, lots of accommodations in the small hotels in Samana (Las Terrenas, Las Galeras, Playa Bonita, and others).

Check Pan Am, US Airways and American Airlines for flights from Boston.

mainer · #3 06-10-2002, 07:14 PM

I don't know how close you are to Boston, but we found the cheapest flights (so far) to be Pan Am out of Manchester/Portsmouth New Hampshire. May be too far out of your way, depending on where you live.

Bugsey34 · #4 06-10-2002, 09:49 PM

mainer, what prices did you get for that panam flight?

sunman6 · #5 06-11-2002, 12:06 AM

I just checked PanAm (love those roomy seats!!) and we found Portsmouth NH to POP for about $455 each round trip which is $150 less than we saw from Boston. Thanks for the lead!!

mainer · #6 06-11-2002, 10:38 AM

That's about the price that I got. Funny, but the same flight from Newark to POP cost a little bit more! We don't get the same discount for the kids as AA, but it still came out several hundred dollars less than AA Boston to POP.

sunman6 · #7 06-11-2002, 11:23 AM

We've traveled twice on package plans that utilized Pan Am service and we were so impressed! They've removed about 4 dozen seats so you get actual legroom - similar to business class on other airlines! The staff is geared to the vacationer and make it a fun trip. Landings were mercifully soft.
As to traveling with the kids...... we did one Caribbean vakay with all 3 of them years ago. They were 5,13 and 15 and we went to Antigua with a day trip to Montserrat where the in-laws were running an orphanage for the Peace Corps. They are 20 years older now and still talk about it and how it changed their perspectives. My son was questioned politely but at length by some locals at the little airport on Montserrat about the "silver things on you teeth?" When it was explained they were horrifed that the poor boy had cement in his mouth and all that hardware just to straighten his teeth! At any rate, I never had to nag my son again about using his water-pic and avoiding caramels. I believe that kids who travel are much less likely to grow up thinking the world ends at their fingertips. Enjoy!!
When are you going to DR? Where are you staying?

mainer · #8 06-11-2002, 02:35 PM

I wanted to go to DR in July, but my husband wants to wait until November. We are staying somewhere on the North Shore. Probably flying into POP. That's as firm as our plans are now. We seem to travel alot, and we always take our children. We generally fly AA, but probably will fly Pan Am. I REALLY dislike Logan airport. It is such a zoo. I have heard good things about Pan Am, and some bad things too.

We had a package deal with Filene's Basement Vacations out of Boston to Jamaica once. It was a really great deal, and the charter flights were "free". I tried to get flight only, but I couldn't. If you are interested in a package with a charter, you could try them.
We are not interested in an All Inclusive, but they have had deals as low as $699 to DR including flight. I cannot find the latest brochure; I either threw it out or gave it to someone. They have a website, but it was down last time that I checked. They are especially good deals if your plans can be flexible.
Mainer

mainer · #9 06-11-2002, 03:48 PM

Sunman,
The Filene's Basement # is 617-267-8100. They do flights only, or flight and hotel packages. However, their flights only is a lot more than Pan Am out of Manchester. I have a quote of $889.40 (US) for each adult to fly into POP and stay for seven nights at the Sun Village Beach. (NOT all Inclusive rate.) This is for September which is, of course, the cheapest that they had in POP. If I find anything less than Pan Am, I will let you all know.

Flight only quoted for November is $650 pp.

Still searching,
Mainer

Cleef · #10 06-11-2002, 04:06 PM

Manchester has a really nice airport, it beats the miserable experience that Logan in Boston is. I could go on and on about what a dump that place is.

Logan in a nutshell: 9/11.

Manchester is easier and cheaper: parking, no tunnels, no bogus convention center taxes, Big Dig taxes.

Also, I'd heard somewhere that Logan is the most expensive airport (in the world or country) to fly into - for the airlines, hence the consumers.

It's super small (dangerous) they can't handle as much traffic so you're prone to have delays and the weather is as unpredictable as it gets.

They've been trying to build a new runway for 20 or 30 years.

They pose as an "international city", yeah, about as much as Hartford Ct. is.

If you can go Manchester instead of Boston it should be a no-brainer.