Punta Cana Airport

Not Verified | People that work here seem more preoccupied with talking amongst themselves than paying attention to customers. Although immigration has improved its processing of passengers, there are still quirks. Security procedures here are not lined up with US guidelines, they took a pair of nose hair trimming scissors from me that had a round tip and not even 1/2 in blade. Just absurd. Shops are expensive. 6 dollars for coffee from an automatic machine seems excessive.

Not Verified | This airport is just a joke. Queue for hours. Too small. Not enough seats. Worst business lounge ever. Disorganization at gates. Wifi very slow. Third world airport.

Not Verified | One would think that after 50 years PUJ would figure out how to operate an airport. Whoever runs the place has no clue with respect to airport operations or management. It is definitely a 3rd World airport. Customs and Immigration is ridiculous and laborious. Staff are extremely rude given it's a tourist airport. The departure lounge has maybe 200 seats for 5,000 travelers and 1 restroom. The worst part is the PA system won't tell you when aircraft are boarding until the last call. By then, you are scrambling to get to the plane. Check-in counters are open-air with no a/c. They think their thatched roof and open-air are cute but we want a/c when we get to the airport on 90 degree days. We've had enough sun and heat and don't want to sweat all the way to the plane. The coup de gras is some idiot thought it was a good idea to put a pool by the departure lounge so you can swim while waiting for your plane. Good news though. There will be a new airport in Bavaro to compete with PUJ. Should go a long way to put PUJ out of business. The new airport investors seem to know what they are doing and how to run a good airport. We will see. My advice is to fly in to Santo Domingo and get transportation to Punta Cana and avoid the hassles.

Not Verified | This does not improve. I fly to PUJ every couple of months and each time it gets worse rather than better. The customs line is insanely long and slow. Be ready to waste at least 3-4 hours standing there, moving at a snails pace, in a hot, overcrowded room, no food, no drinks, no bathrooms, just stuck with thousands of others. And, once you get through and get your bags, you have to re-screen your bags before exiting to transportation. Beware! You will spend most of your first day on this beautiful island, standing in a line.

Not Verified | I have been to dozens of major airports in the past few years. The customs at Punta Cana is the worst. About three hours spent snaking through a long line in a crowded open hall with a thousand other people. We typically go to Punta Cana every few years but will not return until they fix this. What a horrible impression for visitors. On the positive side leaving was easy, lines move quick and the waiting areas were fine.

✅ Trip Verified | I fly into Punta Cana about every 2 months. Customs is usually about an hour long (which is barely tolerable), but my trip in September 2019 and November 2019 customs took 2.5 hours to get through ... that's a long line to stand, no food, no drink, no bathroom, no entertainment, just standing anxiously. Because of that delay, my transportation was off time, so had to wait another hour. Each person of the 14 possible was staffing the customs lines, but still moves very slow! Tourism is a big deal to this economy and when you spend half the afternoon standing in line, after an already long flight, and then getting baggage from claim, then having to have it re-screened again on the way out, is ridiculous. As for leaving Punta Cana, the lines are unexpected. The shopping is okay, but the food selection is minimal, gross, and super expensive.

✅ Trip Verified | Horrible immigration. 2 hours waiting midday. We have been coming here for 8 years. Time to start looking at other islands. They just can’t seem to get their program together here. Tourism is the main industry. Invest in staffing. Bad first impression with lots of people in line, frustrated. Tourists have lots of options for beaches. The experience starts at the airport.

Not Verified | Airport was very pretty and felt very tropical. However, there was no AC through it and it was busy at times. There was a good food selection and many shopping options.

Not Verified | Really disappointed in the very long line to get through immigration. One line had 2 officers working it and it went really fast. No sign up saying what the line was for so after 30 minutes in the long line we went to the short line. Got through really quick. Doesn't seem like anyone cares. Then we sat on a big coach bus for an hour waiting for other people. Do not use Amstar. From deplaning to when we got the resort was 2 and a half hours. Flying into Cancun is so much quicker. 1 hour from deplaning to resort.

Not Verified | I went to DR last year and the airport is one of a kind, all open very caribbean style. So beautiful. The bad thing is we had a very early flight (around 6am) and everything was closed. All staff were just starting their duties so everything was a bit slow. We had to wait for them to set up the check in, migrations and security which didn't look very professional.