a question for ricktoronto.

[liam1]

what's up? i see you go to DR fairly often, i'm wondering where do you buy the tickets? do you use holidaymarkettravel.com or what? i always go through them, but now they want $615. you know somebody better, or is it all the same becouse crude oil is at all time high (over $40 a barrel) and airline companies gotta charge more to offset that. thanks.

[ricktoronto]

Originally Posted by liam1

what's up? i see you go to DR fairly often, i'm wondering where do you buy the tickets? do you use holidaymarkettravel.com or what? i always go through them, but now they want $615. you know somebody better, or is it all the same becouse crude oil is at all time high (over $40 a barrel) and airline companies gotta charge more to offset that. thanks.

I never heard of holidayanything.com. I buy from AA.com directly, since I fly in Business Class and the prices are the same all the time and I can buy a week or so before leaving here. And since you didn't say if you are in France, San Juan or New York the price quote is pretty hard to say if it ($615) is a good deal or a bad one. Or US$ or CDN$ for that matter. The fuel costs per seat won't make rates double though, maybe $10-$15 a seat at times.

The airlines are so competitive that fares are typically quite close unless one route is monopolized but to SDQ there are AA, CO, US and Jet Blue and a bunch of truly horrible , no-legroom charters, so it has a chance of being a deal or two lately, depending on where you depart from, the class of service, and the time - high or low season.

It is sort of like asking, "how long is a string"?

[liam1]

sorry i didn't clarify it, i'm from toronto, too. $615 CAD is not much of a deal coz usually i pay about $200-$400 depending on the date. plus the $200 tax.

now i gotta ask, are you from toronto? (i assume by your nickname you are). i had no idea AA had a charter line from TO to DR. thanks.

[ricktoronto]

Originally Posted by liam1

sorry i didn't clarify it, i'm from toronto, too. $615 CAD is not much of a deal coz usually i pay about $200-$400 depending on the date. plus the $200 tax.

now i gotta ask, are you from toronto? (i assume by your nickname you are). i had no idea AA had a charter line from TO to DR. thanks.

$615 CDN is pretty good on a scheduled airline actually. You did not say when you are travelling as the shoulder starts in September until before Xmas. This is a pretty popular time right now, so that may explain the fare.

Try www.belairtravel.com in Toronto for the air only rates, they often have then very cheap. If not you will know there is a lot of demand for flights and the tour companies don't have to sell off. But there are ads in today's Toronto star for POP with the hotel lincluded for CDN$619+ taxes, and Belair always has packages on sale. Even if you hate AI's the package might be cheap enough to use it as a place for your stuff, meals and peace and quiet while you are in a real hotel.

I didn't say AA has a charter line from Toronto, and I didn't say that because they don't have charters anywhere in the world. I would not fly a charter flight anywhere if it was free or even if I was paid $100. The service , legroom and schedules are appalling and 90% of the passengers act like they didn't know the Wright Brothers existed and that things can fly.

I fly from Toronto to Miami then to SDQ except for this trip coming up I am trying a new route - flying Toronto to Fort Lauderdale to SDQ for $1300 less than via Miami, though actually it is Toronto - La Guardia - Fort Lauderdale- SDQ return.

And you got through my clever secret coded nom de plume and guessed I live in Toronto.

[MommC]

for $510. per person return. Yes we'll need to shuttle from La Guardia to JFK in New York but there's more than enough time between flights to do that.
The YYZ/LGA leg is with Jetsgo and the JFK/SDQ is on Delta.
We've flown Jetsgo several times and found the service great, legroom adequate (much better than charters) and the price can't be beat. Right now they have flights into the States for $1 (plus anywhere from $66-$109 in taxes).

[ricktoronto]

Originally Posted by MommC

for $510. per person return. Yes we'll need to shuttle from La Guardia to JFK in New York but there's more than enough time between flights to do that.
The YYZ/LGA leg is with Jetsgo and the JFK/SDQ is on Delta.
We've flown Jetsgo several times and found the service great, legroom adequate (much better than charters) and the price can't be beat. Right now they have flights into the States for $1 (plus anywhere from $66-$109 in taxes).

I did the LGA/JFK thing ONCE. Only one way as well as the way down was via MIA. Never, ever again. The shuttle leaves on it's own schedule, stops 83 times and crawls through traffic. It took nearly two hours to switch terminals. This was a Sunday night as well, and traffic on the Van Wyck was appalling. If you have a 5 hour conenction, you are in luck. You might want to take a taxi to the subway (Jamaica or Flatbush I think) and then take the new JFK SkyTrain right to the door at JFK. It is part of the NYCTA and features a free "round the terminal" route at JFK as well since the terminals are about a mile apart.

[MommC]

First time we're going this way and I was thinking of having a relative do the transfer but we'll try it the way you suggested on the outbound. We have 6 hours before the flight to SDQ but only 3 on the return so we'll give the sky train a try!
I'm planning on travelling light so luggage shouldn't be a problem!

[ricktoronto]

Originally Posted by MommC

First time we're going this way and I was thinking of having a relative do the transfer but we'll try it the way you suggested on the outbound. We have 6 hours before the flight to SDQ but only 3 on the return so we'll give the sky train a try!
I'm planning on travelling light so luggage shouldn't be a problem!

USe the 6 hour connecdtion to practice with the Airtrain and check the NYCTA web site to learn about the cost ( which is more than the subway but not by much) and the stations it serves so you can figure out how to Airtain then taxi between the two. 6 hours even in the worst conditions is a lot. 3 is probably enough too. That bus was a real PIA.

[Gregg]

Originally Posted by ricktoronto

I did the LGA/JFK thing ONCE. Only one way as well as the way down was via MIA. Never, ever again. The shuttle leaves on it's own schedule, stops 83 times and crawls through traffic. It took nearly two hours to switch terminals. This was a Sunday night as well, and traffic on the Van Wyck was appalling. If you have a 5 hour conenction, you are in luck. You might want to take a taxi to the subway (Jamaica or Flatbush I think) and then take the new JFK SkyTrain right to the door at JFK. It is part of the NYCTA and features a free "round the terminal" route at JFK as well since the terminals are about a mile apart.

we are flying out this Monday with Jet Blue, Buffalo to JFK, JFK to Santiago. it's only 90 minutes drive to Buffalo.

you could also take the new (is it up and running yet?) ferry service from downtown Toronto to Rochester and fly out from there.

we saved alot. of course, there are 4 of us so it adds up quickly. about $625 CDN per person for the trip. tickets are fully changeable for a small fee.

you can get some good charter sell-offs but i agree 100% with your comments about the crappy charter flights. a good question is how long is the trip?

we were quoted $9,000.00 CDN, up from $4200 if we wanted to stay beyond 2 weeks!

a one week trip was $150 CDN cheaper per person if you bought an all-inclusive package. you could take advantage of the airport transfer and a few nights at the AI and still come out cheaper.

very strange airline industry in Canada.

[CoolRoi]

ricktoronto Quote:
Originally Posted by MommC
for $510. per person return. Yes we'll need to shuttle from La Guardia to JFK in New York but there's more than enough time between flights to do that.
The YYZ/LGA leg is with Jetsgo and the JFK/SDQ is on Delta.
We've flown Jetsgo several times and found the service great, legroom adequate (much better than charters) and the price can't be beat. Right now they have flights into the States for $1 (plus anywhere from $66-$109 in taxes).


I did the LGA/JFK thing ONCE. Only one way as well as the way down was via MIA. Never, ever again. The shuttle leaves on it's own schedule, stops 83 times and crawls through traffic. It took nearly two hours to switch terminals. This was a Sunday night as well, and traffic on the Van Wyck was appalling. If you have a 5 hour conenction, you are in luck. You might want to take a taxi to the subway (Jamaica or Flatbush I think) and then take the new JFK SkyTrain right to the door at JFK. It is part of the NYCTA and features a free "round the terminal" route at JFK as well since the terminals are about a mile apart.

JFK is actually 10 minutes away from the Jamaica train station by car. Instead of taking the cab to Jamaica, they could take the cab to the Long Island Rail Road's Woodside station & take the train to Jamaica and transfer to the airtrain. That is if traffic is bad of course, otherwise I would suggest taking a cab straight to JFK. Hope this helps.