in this video I'm going to tell you
everything you need to know and what to
expect when flying into the Punta Cana
airport and if you're new to our channel
three days and Tres noches brings you
real honest to the point information and
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we go to and your support means
everything so please like And subscribe
and keep following us we were traveling
from the United States into the
Dominican Republic and did not need
proof of vaccination or a covid test we
did need a passport and we had to fill
out an online form which I will link in
the description usually your airline is
going to guide you in all of the travel
requirements but always do your research
because it can be different depending on
the destinations that you are coming
from so first when you arrive one thing
that might be different is that you
actually do plain outside and once you
are deplane they're going to put you
onto a bus and take you directly over to
immigrations
first up is immigrations and you can
expect to wait in some long lines here
so make sure everyone goes to the
bathroom that you have snacks prepared
for the kids now we got lucky that day
because we arrived before noon on a
Sunday which we are finding is a great
time to travel no matter where we go
because there's less lines it was around
15 to 30 minutes but there's no e-gates
here to speed it up now you could put
yourself closer on the plane so don't
put yourself in the back of the plane
that's one way to help also if you're a
Dominican citizen they have a separate
line so even if you live in the U.S if
you were born in Dominican you can go
through this line
so right after immigration is the
duty-free area everyone has to go
through this area and we actually did
buy a full bottle of liquor while we
were here because they were not going to
be providing one in the room and we
always like to have one just in case so
definitely do your research ask if
they're going to have one again it's
nice just to have it in your room if you
want to have a drink and this is the
perfect place to buy it
and anything that you buy in the
duty-free area you do have to show your
passport for and they will check it
again when you go through customs
now after the duty free is where you are
going to pick up your luggage if you
checked in a bag now if you follow my
channel you know I'm really big on not
checking bags in even if you're
traveling for five days or seven days I
try to bring everything in a carry-on
because sometimes you can wait for that
luggage for a very long time so that's
just one tip here that I would give you
as well if you can put everything in a
check-in if not this is where you're
going to go and wait for your bags
before moving on to customs there's also
an area where you can exchange dollars
into Dominican pesos and coming from the
United States we never really need to do
this we always just tip in the US dollar
and they are fine with that but there is
an area to do that if you feel like you
want to exchange money
welcome you into the Dominican Republic
you really feel like you are ready and
going on vacation so we are still making
our way to customs though so let's keep
going through the airport I'm going to
show you some other things that you can
find so if you wanted to stop and get a
drink of course they have a full bar
right here you can get cerveza I
definitely recommend drinking that
Presidente beer I very rarely drink beer
in fact I only drink beer when I'm in
the Dominican Republic and it's
president day because it is so good
now one question I get a lot is about
sunscreen because since I pack a
carry-on people always ask me well then
how do you bring sunscreen well usually
I'm going to take it in a trial size so
a small size that will pass through in
my carry-on yes it's going to cost a
little bit more but if you wanted to
wait until you arrived here as you can
see most airports like you're in the
Punta Cana they have like a little
market so they'll have snacks and drinks
and Waters whatever you need but they
also have sunscreen and so the sunscreen
the bottles of sunscreen were about
twenty dollars at the resort they're
probably going to be around 30 but again
to avoid the headache of having to check
a bag and just for your sunscreen is so
worth it because you're going to save so
much time and you are going to be able
to get to your destination and your
Resort and vacation so much more quickly
so finally we now have made it to
customs and again we got really lucky
there not really a line at all we were
just navigating the maze to get through
to the exit
this is a great time to talk about the
VIP service that they offer where you do
not have to wait in any lines at all we
actually tried to sign up for it but it
was completely booked so it's a very
popular service even though it's a
little expensive so it's a hundred
dollars per person for when you arrive
which I think is totally worth it
because you also get access to their
lounge and it's a little bit less if you
have more people and I think two ages
two to seven it's only like twenty
dollars each but when you depart it's
200 a person but again no security lines
nothing and you get access to the really
nice VIP lounge but again it was fully
booked so if it's something that you
want to do probably have to do it months
in advance and I will put the link in
the description below
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finally through customs and now it's
time to get to your Resort or to your
destination so the next area is where
you are going to find your
transportation
um or maybe you are going to rent a car
I don't have any experience renting a
car in the Dominican Republic so I can't
really tell you to do it or not to do it
I personally if you follow me you know
that I always go with the safest route
especially when it comes to
Transportation so I stay away from taxis
because I know you can get taken
advantage of
um and I also stay away from shared
Transportation really just because it
takes so much longer so I always opt for
the private transportation that I
arrange ahead of time so the biggest tip
I can give in this area is stay away
from any sales pitches and timeshare
pitches we didn't get any while we were
walking through here but just stay away
from them and always arrange
transportation ahead of time and we did
so through Diamond transfers and they
were great so I'm gonna do an entire
separate video about this in case you
need to look for your own um
transportation but also Link in the
description if you want to book with
them
so now you're outside and this is the
area where you are going to find that
arranged transportation and they will
meet you here off to the side you're
going to see they will have signs with
your name on it and again just make sure
you always confirm that your information
matches their information so that you
know you are with the right company
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foreign
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and as you can see they were very easy
to find they have my name they're there
waiting for me and then from there
they're going to take us over to the end
where the vehicle is waiting which we
will get to now if you are waiting for
other people to arrive so you guys have
private transfer together but they're
coming in from another on another
airplane there are some areas I'm going
to show you at the end where you could
sit and eat and wait which um we've done
on several occasions when we had to meet
family members so there are areas like
that just here at the end another great
advantage of the private transfer is
they take your luggage and they guide
you all the way to where you're going
and here at the end is the spot where is
a great Meetup point if you are waiting
for you know some other family members
or friends to meet you and then there
was Lenny our driver waiting for us it
was so easy they poured us a glass of
Presidente got into our vehicle and
started making our way to the resort
so that's everything you need to know
about arriving to the Punta Cana airport
so now we'll talk about departing from
the airport let's start with the biggest
question we get in regards to departures
and that is how many hours in advance
before your flight should you get to the
airport honestly there isn't really just
one answer to this question it really
depends on if you are checking bags if
you are traveling during peak hours
during the weekend so there are a lot of
factors involved in this
in general the transportation company is
going to recommend around two and a half
to three hours before your scheduled
flight
and it is always better to be safe than
sorry now we usually opt for around two
hours before the flight because we never
check in our bags
um because we figure even if it takes us
an hour and a half to get through
security which has never happened to us
we would still have plenty of time to
catch our flight now this last time we
were really bummed that the VIP service
was booked because we wanted to stay at
the resort a little bit longer because
if you have that VIP service you could
even get there an hour and a half in
advance because they're going to bring
you through that line and then you can
just sit in the lounge for an hour and
then catch your flight now we were
departing on a Wednesday afternoon and
our flight did get delayed so it got
pushed back to a 5 PM departure we
arrived at the airport at 2 30. we use
Diamond transfers again to get us to the
airport and we got really lucky because
they were able to accommodate a later
pickup time and we found out that our
flight was delayed when we got to the
airport with no issues no traffic or
anything like that but sometimes that
can be a little bit of a factor as well
now when you do arrive they do have
people at the airport that will
sometimes come over to the car and help
Gathering your bags and show you the way
to go which is not a service that you
have to accept but we gladly took it
they're hoping to get a tip just to help
them out even though we kind of knew
where to go but it was nice to have a
quick guide around the corner once again
we got really lucky with the security
lines I think it only took us like maybe
15 or 20 minutes to get through the
security lines and going through
security was a breeze as well you take
off your shoes you take out your
electronics now my bag was flagged I
forgot to take out my liquids which I
know to do in Cancun but I forgot to do
it here so the one bag was flagged and
she went through some of my liquids I
think my perfume was what set it off
even though it was the correct amount
but then everything was fine and we were
on our way
then up the security line one more line
it's the immigration line which again we
got lucky wasn't too too long once
you're through that then you can proceed
to wait for your flight to depart and
then similar to when you arrive and you
depart there is also a duty-free Lounge
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the Punta Cana airport has two private
lounges the VIP lounge which was fully
booked and then they have a walk-in
private Lounge which you can pay to
enter and so that's what we decided to
do since our flight was going to be
delayed so long here I'm trying to
figure out where it is
um she actually sent us to the other
side I think she thought we were looking
for the VIP lounge when in fact the
lounge is right here to the left you'll
see all those glass windows we didn't
even take footage of it we realized
because it was just very overwhelming it
was overcrowded they didn't have plugs
so I'm including some pictures from
distantpoints.com and I will include
their article in the description below
where they give the same review that we
did I definitely do not think it's worth
it in my opinion unless you have a
priority pass or something where you've
already paid and you just want to get a
couple drinks
the Punta Cana airport actually has a
great website as well so I will link
that in the description including a list
of all of the food options which they
don't have a ton but they have
definitely enough if you wanted to plan
ahead then of course they have some
shopping options as well if you want to
get souvenirs but they do not have a ton
of plugs so try to get those devices
charged ahead of time they do have a
cute little play area too for some of
the younger kids and it is an open air I
mean they do have air conditioning but
just make sure you dress comfortably and
just like when you arrive when you
depart you have to get onto a bus and
then you board the plane outside
and then sadly it's time to leave the
beautiful Dominican Republic so we hope
you found this video of the Punta Cana
airport helpful and we do answer all
comments and questions so if you have
anything to add from your experiences or
any questions at all drop them in the
comments below and keep following us at
three days and Trace notches while we
keep bringing you those honest reviews
those to the point travel tips and
information about the destinations that
we go to
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yeah yeah
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