Dominica Airfare

[handben]

I am planning on a trip in November to Dominica from BWI and wondering if the fares I see are about right or too high. The best I can find is through American Airlines with a change of planes in San Juan for around $900 round trip. It seems a bit high to me and I'm thinking of waiting a bit for prices to possibly come down; however if this is the going rate then I'll just bite the bullet and plunk down the cash. Heck, you only live once right? Thanks for your help.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Watch out for hurricanes that time of year!

 

[Rhone Man]

Sounds about right to me, maybe a little on the high side. Any time you connect through San Juan you are really dealing with the AA monopoly (unless you are unwise enough to fly on local Caribbean airlines) and you pay a premium for that.

November is at the tail end of hurricane season. 95% probability is that you won't have a problem, but probably a good idea to get travel insurance just in case.

 

[Eddietours]

Hello Handben,

Dominica is a fun place for scuba diving, I got certified in 1996 by Anchorage Divers Ltd and have been scuba diving ever since. Visibility is about 80 - 110 feet through out the island. If you need some more information you can reach me at eddietours2001@yahoo.com

 

[diverrex]

Hello Handben,

Dominica is a fun place for scuba diving, I got certified in 1996 by Anchorage Divers Ltd and have been scuba diving ever since. Visibility is about 80 - 110 feet through out the island. If you need some more information you can reach me at eddietours2001@yahoo.com

We did 18 dives from June 6 to June 18, the diving was fantastic, but I don't think we saw 80 foot viz on any of the dives, much less 110. it was more like 60 most dives. But it was great diving.

 

[BEM]

We're going back to Dominica in 2010.

The flights to Dominica are a pain going through Antigua, but we will not (unless absolutely necessary) go through San Juan. Once, on our way to Bonaire, American Eagle only got one flight off (fortunately ours) out of over eight scheduled flights on one afternoon.

We are using Air Canada to Antigua and LIAT to Dominica. We left LOTS of time to change (coming & going) at V.C. Bird International Airport (ANU). We're using points (45,000 per person) but the cost through Kayak.com was $1,300 (US). $900 return is a decent price - I would lock that in - and don't keep looking to see if it went down (it can drive you nuts!!!) Maybe look into going via Antigua and LIAT or AE.

But the hassle getting there is more than made up by the island's beauty, and we're spending three weeks of diving and exploring.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

Keep checking the flights to San Juan every couple of days and see if the cost changes and then look at AA sight to see if the A Eagle flight price changes at all. I paid $525 for the AA flight at the beginning of the year and it went down to $368 a few weeks later. You might save money booking each flight separately.

 

[agilis]

You might want to check out alternate discounted airline flights for the first part of the trip to P.R., if they arrive in time for you to collect and transfer your checked luggage to American Eagle. Because you have to go through check in and security again, you need at least 3 hours between the arrival in SJU and the departure of the American Eagle flight to DOM. I like to take a discounted late afternoon/early evening flight and stay over the night before, eliminating most of the connecting flight anxiety, which also exists with AA only flights, some of which cut the connection times pretty close, and sometimes don't make them, even with direct luggage check through. The weather alone makes flight delays common. This option can be expensive for only one traveler, so you have to do the math. Still, no matter how you figure it, getting to Dominica is expensive. Island accomodations, in contrast, are usually a bargain.

 

[handben]

Well I am glad I waited a few days. The price dropped down to $600 before taxes and so on. I save about $500 by waiting 3 days, amazing. I don't quite understand the algorithms they use to come up with the pricing, but there sure is a lot of fluctuation. I hope I hit the bottom though. I will be cutting it close with only an hour in SJ. They must have some mechanism for holding flights and all since it is the same air line. We shall see. As always, thanks to all for your advice and help.

 

[agilis]

That is quite a savings over the original price. You should know that there is a very tight time limit on delaying the flight to Dominica if the jet from up here is late. Same airline or not, connections are missed regularly. The small propjet that leaves for Dominica around 1:30 is the same plane that brings people back from Dominica. They just unload in Dom and turn it around, without even refueling. There is a very tight time window, because the airport in Dominica really does not operate at night. BTW, I'm going to be in Dominica from late November tthrough early December. I've done that time frame twice before, and had good weather. Luck is always a factor.