June 8, 2007
All inclusive resort prices in Punta Cana: official hotel sites, cheapcaribbean.com packages, kayak.com and Orbitz ot cheaptickets.com
When I mentioned my Spirit Airlines issue, several readers were kind enough to suggest some Punta Cana resorts. I just priced them on each resort's web page to see if booking direct would save me money or if it might be cheaper to book through another website. here's what I found:
I'm not sure if any of these include taxes and other possible charges.
Staying 6 Nights from 08/01/2007 to 08/07/2007:
Destination: Punta Cana Princess
Room Type: JR.SUITE V.I.P.
Cost Per Adult: $546 Total: $1092 Grand Total: $1092
Room Type: HONEYMOON SUITE
Cost Per Adult: $648 Total: $1296 Grand Total: $1296
Room Type: JR.SUITE (no VIP service)
Cost Per Adult: $432 Total: $864
Destination: Iberostar Bavaro Punta Cana
Room Type: Junior Suite (strangely iberostar.com redirected me to another domain when I searched availability and they gave me only one room choice).
Total cost: 1.944,00 US$
Destination: Punta Cana Occidental Resort - Allegro Punta Cana
Price per person includes transfers: Sub Total $652.00, Instant Saver! $189.89, Total $462.10 (it's not really the total since it's only for one person when I told them we would be two...)
Destination: Punta Cana Occidental Resort - Occidental Grand Punta Cana
Sub Total $711.00, Instant Saver! $213.30, Total $497.70 (I'm not sure if this one also includes transfers)
Destination: Sunscape The Beach, Punta Cana
Deluxe Room with Balcony or Patio: $1,644.00
Deluxe room with private garden and patio: $1,806.00
Deluxe Partial Ocean View Room
Premium Room with Balcony or Patio
Deluxe Honeymoon with Swim-out access to pool (2 People Max): $2,364.00
Honestly I don't see swim-out access being worth much of anything when the pool closes early.
Some prices are missing because their website is incredibly annoying and you have to do a new search each time you want to pick a different room. Prices include transfers.
Notice how Occidental Grand is $497.70 per person not including air. The flight we booked through Spirit is $354.10 with fees added in. The total is 851.80 per person.
On Cheapcaribbean.com they quoted me "Average per person $837.60" including flights on Spirit and the same resort all-inclusive package. They would have saved me $14.20 per person but it's too late for me now. Plus cheapcaribbean.com uses Spirit Airlines and we hate Spirit Airlines. They do let you choose another airline at least.
Kayak.com found Sunscape the Beach for $231/night but that might not include taxes and fees. It also doesn't clearly say it's all inclusive. However if it is all inclusive it's a nice discount since the cheapest room on their official site (Deluxe Room with Balcony or Patio: $1,644.00) works out to $274/night when you divid by 6. Would Orbitz.com or cheaptickets.com (both showed $231/night on the Kayak search) save me $40/night?
When I clicked on the Orbitz link, I found that the price was $225/night for a super saver room (I didn't even see that on the official sunscape site) and it was all-inclusive. For $230/night they had "Deluxe Room - 2 double bed or 1 king bed INCLUDES MEALS, DRINKS, TAXES & GRATUITIES - SUMMER/FALL STAY MORE SALE - 20% OFF !"
They added 36.02 in taxes and fees for a total of 1,416.02 - that is better than $1,644.00 by 227.98. There's a substantial difference there. The super saver room is 1,385.23 after 35.23 in taxes and fees. I wish I knew what the difference was.
I haven't booked yet. I understand that August is not a busy season so I figure I'll wait a while to see if any sales come up or if anyone answers my email and offers a discount.
I guess the conclusion is to search the hotel website and check Kayak to see if any other websites can beat the hotel website's price. Search Google news for sales in the area as well - a Google news alert makes this easier.
Posted by James Trotta at June 8, 2007 10:36 AM | TrackBack
What you pay for is what you get.
I checked the Sunscape the Beach resort, Punta Cana,website and they had a Deluxe Room for 6 nights, total incl. fees, taxes - $1452. The Orbit Link site total was only lower by $36 an had a 'Super Save Room'. The key may be the Super Saver Room, meaning whatever the regular customers do not want, you get.
Our experiences when using discount web sites are fine for ease and multiple use. However we have found when making a reservation directly with the resort's website usually gave us better room selection and better dining room seating.
Once we were even moved while we were registering from a forest view to the parking lot stores view and were told our discount reservation provided whatever rooms were available upon registration.
Posted by: Ray Anderson at June 8, 2007 1:37 PM