Punta Cana (PUJ) Flight Prices - March 2019

[PM2036]

We are planning to travel to Punta Cana (PUJ) from Orlando (MCO) in March 2019.  I had been tracking the flight prices, as our dates had not yet been made available on Southwest's schedule and the flights were running about $380 roundtrip (three weeks before our intended date of travel).  As soon as the flight schedule was extended for our travel dates into March, the prices skyrocketed.....like $950 roundtrip.  Do prices eventually come back down to normal after Southwest extends the flight schedule?  Currently, there are no "Wanna Get Away" fares available.  Any thoughts on this?

[franktravel]

Hi 

Flight prices are like the stock market! The prices go up and down all the time.  Supply and demand drive the price.  Winter is a highly traveled time of year.  You may also want to search departure from a different city? like FLL, RSW, TPA 

Good luck!

[PM2036]

Thanks for the suggestion.  I tried FLL, it was a litttle less expensive than MCO, but not much.

[dfwskier]

Morning.

Well you are travelling during spring break, so that would explain the absence of Wanna Get Away fares -- Southwest thinks ir can fill the plane with people paying the higher fares.

I've seen this before, and sometimes Southwest does lower prices over time - but not always. Because Southwest doesnt charge change fees you could buy now and rebook if/when the fare drops, and have travel funds available for a future trip. Or you could just watch for a lower fare and snatch it up if / when it happens.

Sorry, but nothing is guaranteed.

[TheMiddleSeat]

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@dfwskier wrote:

Well you are travelling during spring break, so that would explain the absence of Wanna Get Away fares -- Southwest thinks ir can fill the plane with people paying the higher fares.

I've seen this before, and sometimes Southwest does lower prices over time - but not always. 

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This is my take on the situation. If Southwest sees the Spring Break flyers aren't buying the Anytime or BS fares it may add the WGA fares later, but no guarantee. It's all about supply and demand.

--TheMiddleSeat

[PM2036]

True enough, I will remain patient and hope for the best.

[dfwskier]

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@dfwskier wrote:

Morning.

Well you are travelling during spring break, so that would explain the absence of Wanna Get Away fares -- Southwest thinks ir can fill the plane with people paying the higher fares.

I've seen this before, and sometimes Southwest does lower prices over time - but not always. Because Southwest doesnt charge change fees you could buy now and rebook if/when the fare drops, and have travel funds available for a future trip. Or you could just watch for a lower fare and snatch it up if / when it happens.

Sorry, but nothing is guaranteed.

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One correction to what I said above: Anytime and Business select fares are fully refundable. So if a Wanna Get Away fare shows up later you are better off getting a refund and then buying the lower fare anew.

[PM2036]

I figured it would be a little more expensive during Spring Break, but not that much more.  I will keep my fingeers crossed and be on the lookout.  Thanks for your input. 🙂

[DancingDavidE]

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@PM2036 wrote:

I figured it would be a little more expensive during Spring Break, but not that much more.  I will keep my fingeers crossed and be on the lookout.  Thanks for your input. 🙂

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If other airlines are offering lower fares, then there is a better chance that Southwest will eventually match. 

If the others are all at the higher rate now, then the other factor that is part of supply and demand is competition won't help you until one or more carriers realizes that supply > demand and adjust.

[DancingDavidE]

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@PM2036 wrote:

We are planning to travel to Punta Cana (PUJ) from Orlando (MCO) in March 2019.  I had been tracking the flight prices, as our dates had not yet been made available on Southwest's schedule and the flights were running about $380 roundtrip (three weeks before our intended date of travel).  As soon as the flight schedule was extended for our travel dates into March, the prices skyrocketed.....like $950 roundtrip.  Do prices eventually come back down to normal after Southwest extends the flight schedule?  Currently, there are no "Wanna Get Away" fares available.  Any thoughts on this?

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The Business Select and Anytime fares will stay about the same as far as I  know - I don't usually monitor them since I'm pretty much exclusively WGA fares, as are most people. 

It is possible the WGA fares could come back, but I don't know if it would be considered likely or not. You should also verify for your dates -I put PUJ into the "where we fly map" and see that you can only get to PUJ from FLL, ATL, BWI, STL, and MDW. Obviously most of these would be a significant backtrack from MCO, but maybe you can find an alternate route that would work although taking more time, but still has WGA fares available. 

If you are going MCO-FLL-PUJ then maybe check out the fligihts directly from FLL to PUJ and see if any alternate times still have WGA, or are you being kicked to BS/A fares for the MCO/FLL leg?

If the flights were just released and no WGA showed up to start with, then it might seem more likely for WGA to come back at some point? But I don't think anyone can guarantee that.