Miami to Puerto Plata??

[tortugas]

Hi All!

Just found this forum, maybe you guys can help me find the best flight.

I don't want to go the all-inclusive route, but so far, I'm having no luck finding a decent price on a flight. If I book a 5 night all inclusive, I can get a nice resort with a direct fligh for $560. When I price that same flight alone, the best price I get is $430-something. What am I doing wrong???

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Char

[Escott]

American Airlines runs specials at least once a week from Miami to Puerto Plata at 199 plus tax which is under 300. You can get a nice hotel in PP or Sosua for 25- us a night for 2 people. 5 nights is 125 and 600 for flights for 2 is 725. Food isn't expensive and it is better outside the AI's.

Regards

[tortugas]

Thanks for the reply! Any suggestions as to how to best access these prices? I've searched on travelocity, and orbitz, and even the AA site, and had no luck. Is my best bet just to call American directly?

Thanks again for the tip... don't get me wrong, I love the "resort" experience... but I'm leaving the country because I want to experience another culture, and it can be hard to do that when you get sucked into the resort "compound!"

[ricktoronto]

Originally posted by tortugas
Thanks for the reply! Any suggestions as to how to best access these prices? I've searched on travelocity, and orbitz, and even the AA site, and had no luck. Is my best bet just to call American directly?

Firstly the AA specials called "Websaver" (you go to AA.com and subscribe to them) are almost always leave Friday and come back Monday or Tuesday - and are released for purchase the Wednesday the week before, e.g. for the weekend of June 22nd they came out ( if they did) June 12th.

Essentially they are selling on 10 days notice unsold weekend capacity on all sorts of routes that may be busier on weekdays - the DR routes are quite regular and busy but I have flown during off season weekends with 80 people in a A300 with 259 seats.

So 5 days stay over won't generally work and $199 is not always available.

Calling AA will guarantee a price at least 5% higher than AA.com - if it ain't there on AA.com it is not available at all let alone less $$ from AA reservations lines. To save money they have 5% or better discounts on the Aa.com site than the phone. I haven't found non AA sites to be any cheaper so f you do go online stick to AA site vs., say, Expedia.

I had a friend book on AA through Orbitz and needed a change and AA said next time buy through us and we'll consider it - he had to refund the ticket with penalty and book again.

[tortugas]

Thanks for the tips!

Char

[kjdrga]

I have found that you really have to search all the reservation websites. Last week I bought a ticket from DCA- SDQ for only $360.00 RT and it was through Expedia.com for late Aug/early Sept. Before buying it I checked the AA website to see if that great deal was available and the cheapest for the exact same flights was $600 RT. I am on a number on flight trackers where you set the highest price you are willing to pay and when something comes along for your particular route you get an email.

Be persistant and check everyday, that's what I did, since neither travelocity nor side-step or AA picked up on this great deal...

Good luck.