Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: €1,149 Star Alliance Business Class from France

Star Alliance members Air Canada, SWISS and other Lufthansa group airlines offer cheap business class flights to Punta Cana from Paris. Most itineraries involve one stop in Toronto or Montreal. All fares include two checked bags.

While the price is very attractive, there are some downsides to this deal. Most connections feature two layovers in at least one direction. Others have extended waiting periods during the layovers. And in most cases, at least one long flight is operated by Eurowings Discover or Air Canada Rouge, severely limiting how many miles you can earn with these tickets.

You can also depart from the following French airports:

• Lyon at €1,149
• Paris at €1,154
• Bordeaux at €1,190
• Toulouse at €1,205

Our availability calendar highlights all possible flight dates for less than €1,300 for trips up to 28 days. it will forward you to the Travel-Dealz flight search.

The search results above only show flight dates with a travel time of 20 hours max both ways. Availabilities are much broader if you are willing to accept longer stopovers.

Most flights include a transatlantic flight to Toronto or Montreal and then an Air Canada Rouge flight to Punta Cana. On some days, you can even find a mainline Air Canada Dreamliner on the shorter flight. The long flights could be on Boeing 777s, Airbus A330s and Boeing 787s.

There are also cases in which you get a short transfer flight to Frankfurt before boarding and Eurowings Discover Airbus A330 to the Caribbean. Some of the cheapest tickets require you to fly via Toronto and Vienna, while other routings involve a stop in Zurich, crossing the Atlantic Ocean on SWISS’ subsidiary Edelweiss.

Out of the named options, Eurowings certainly offers the worst long-haul premium product.

Search & Book

According to the fare rules, this deal comes without an expiration date. The offer is valid for travel commencing between August 2023 and January 2024. There is no minimum stay.

Our availability calendar above is your best tool to look for trips. It will forward you to the Travel-Dealz flight search or Expedia, where you can book the cheapest fare. You can also use Google Flights (instructions), although it doesn’t show the punctual prices. Unfortunately, you can’t book these fares on airlines’ websites.

Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?

More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:

Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.

If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.

This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.

Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.

This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.

Mileage

You will get tickets issued in booking class P. On an Air Canada flight with a Toronto transfer, you would get the following mileage:

Since there are many routing and operating carriers involved, our Mileage Calculator should be of great help:

Destination

Hotel prices in Punta Cana usually start at roughly €50, depending on the hotel category. Whichever category and hotel you opt for, make sure to get the best price! Our recommendation is to search on booking.com, or even on our own Travel-Dealz hotel search:

Cover Picture: © Maciej Czekajewski - fotolia.com