Delta Air Lines Offering Travel Waivers for Dominican Republic Flights
by Daniel McCarthy
Delta is also working with customers on a case-by-case basis for flights to other Dominican airports, including Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros. Photo: Markus Mainka / Shutterstock.com.
Delta Air Lines is allowing travelers booked on flights to, from, or through Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, to cancel or change tickets without penalty.
The airline is issuing the travel waiver “due to recent events in Punta Cana,” which includes the deaths of American tourists at various locations around the island. Delta’s travel waiver will allow those scheduled on flights through Aug. 15 to rebook for travel no later than Nov. 20 or to cancel their flight and get a Delta credit good for one year.
Delta is also working with customers on a case-by-case basis for flights to other Dominican airports, including Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros. JetBlue and American are doing the same for all three airports.
At least 10 Americans have died in the Dominican Republic in the last year, but some of those deaths are believed to have been due to natural causes. Some occurred at resorts, like the Hard Rock Punta Cana, which just recently announced it would be removing liquor dispensers from its guest rooms.
Despite the news, the Minister of Tourism for the Dominican Republic, Francisco Javier Garcia, issued a statement this week that dismissed any reports of “mysterious death.”
“We have unequivocally shown that there is not an avalanche of deaths of American tourists in the country and it is not true that there are mysterious deaths,” he wrote in a statement. “Our priority in the Dominican Republic is the safety of tourists, and increasingly, measures are applied to guarantee it.”
According to Garcia, more than seven million people visit the Dominican Republic each year, and consumer satisfaction is more than 99%.
The U.S. State Department travel advisory for the Dominican Republic has remained the same since Apr.15. The Level 2 advisory tells Americans to “exercise increased caution in the Dominican Republic due to crime,” but does not mention the recent deaths.
Speaking to Travel Market Report last week, the State Department pointed to the fact that an average of 2.7 million Americans travel to the Dominican Republic every year. While the overwhelming majority travel without incident, the State Department is working actively with the Dominican authorities to ensure that U.S. citizens are safe and feel safe while in the Dominican Republic.
The official said the agency has not seen an uptick in the number of U.S. citizen deaths reported to the Department (see information regarding non-natural deaths of U.S. citizens abroad here).
