Hi there!
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoy my trip report and take a minute to look around at my other blog posts. Feel free to leave questions or comments below any post!
Now let's dive into it!
I recently spent 4 days at an almost FREE vacation with my husband in the Dominican Republic. Specifically, Punta Cana. How was it almost FREE, you ask? Credit Card Points of course! Keep reading to see how.
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How We Got There:
We flew with JetBlue (my favorite!) from EWR to PUJ, Punta Cana's airport. JetBlue has incredible variety in terms of routes and flights to the Caribbean, so whichever island you have your eyes on, they most likely have a flight! You can always find the cheapest date by searching JetBlue's Best Fare Finder. For this specific flight, we used 46,400 points plus $310.78 for two round trip flights from EWR to PUJ.
The flight is around 4 hours long. As always, my experience on JetBlue was exceptional. Super friendly flight attendants, snacks and drinks for everyone. You even get the full soda can! The things you appreciate after flying on airlines that give you just the 8 ounces....My general drink of choice on a flight will always be water or ginger ale. I just don't understand how someone can drink any other kind of heavy soda or alcohol on a flight...
Where We Stayed:
The Dominican Republic does not have a shortage of gorgeous resorts to choose from. Even only searching within Hyatt (the best redemption value you'll ever get for your points), the options were overwhelming. We finally settled for the Dreams Onyx Punta Cana for multiple reasons. First off they had availability for a standard room, which is the cheapest. They also boasted a ton of incredible reviews, a lazy river, a beautiful beach, and balcony hot tubs! But the best part was the price for a standard room. We were able to book a base room (which is actually a suite) for just 23,000 points a night! That's a steal, considering you can earn enough points for 3 nights with just one sign up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred! And the cash rate for a standard room is over $500! The Dreams Onyx is an all inclusive resort, which means most food, drink, and activities are included.
So what did I think of this resort after staying for 4 nights? The resort is absolutely gorgeous with both a party vibe and a quiet, relaxing section.
All suites are spread across 3 buildings, that are 3 stories each. Between every two buildings, you can find all the amenities the hotel has to offer. And there are a lot of spaces to explore on site! Part of why we chose to cancel our booked activity. But more on that later. Here are all the activities and amenities you can enjoy on site at the Dreams Onyx Punta Cana.
Lazy river with 3 water slides
Kids splash pad
Main pool area. This is where all the partying happens, with daily entertainment and music.
Well appointed gym
Theater and entertainment plaza. This is where the nightly shows happen, including magic shows, dance performances, karaoke, and more!
A host of restaurants and bars that are mostly included FREE with your stay!
At the end of all these, you'll find a 0" entry kiddie pool and just behind that was the gorgeous Punta Cana beaches we came for!
What We Did:
A whole bunch of Nothing! Well, we had originally booked a full day trip to Scape Park, about an hour north of the resort. However, we quickly backtracked, when we were told pickup would be at 7:45 AM...Not exactly a vacation appropriate wake up time :) We used 18,000 Chase points to book this activity via the Chase Travel Portal, and thankfully we were able to recover it, despite being past the cancellation window.
So what did we actually do? We relaxed on the lazy river, had a bunch of drinks, jumped ocean waves, relaxed by the pool, and enjoyed the on site entertainment.
What We Ate:
Kosher food can be hard to come by in the Dominican Republic. There are no Kosher food establishments and you cannot bring in any farm products through DR customs. That means no meat, chicken, dairy, etc. However, as usual, you can always count on Chabad! Chabad is located in Santo Domingo, about a 3 hour drive from Punta Cana, and they offer delivered takeout to almost anywhere for a fee. To Punta Cana resorts the fee is $50. The food was reasonably priced, fresh, delicious, and well packaged upon delivery. We ordered dinner for 4 nights, plus sides, rolls, pita, dips, and rugalach. Our total, including delivery was $420. In addition to that, Chabad runs an unofficial little market, where you can get basic groceries. We ordered 2 dozen eggs, 3 packs mozzarella cheese, and peanut butter for a total of an additional $50.
We used a Hot Logic to warm up our food. The Hot Logic works similar to an oven. It takes 1-2 hours to fully warm up cooked food. It's like an insulated bag with a warming tray, and you can plug it in to the wall. Here's a link to a standard wire that goes into the wall. The Mini Hot Logic fits a 2.25 lb. pan. The Max Hot Logic is what I would recommend, since it can warm up all your food at once. You can also buy one that comes with a car wire, so you can plug it into your car's cigarette lighter.
We also shlepped along our Betty Crocker which we used to toast our pita and make scrambled eggs every morning. Bring along parchment paper sheets, so you don't have to clean it after!
The PUJ Airport Experience:
Yes, this needs its own section, since it was so unique. I have never been to an airport that was so on point with the vibes of the destination. Everything about this airport screams Caribbean! From the drop off terminals
To the walk towards Duty Free
To the VIP Lounge that has an outdoor pool with plane views!
And even the boarding gate got the memo!
About the VIP lounge. We were able to access this lounge using our Priority Pass that we get free with my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Seeing an outdoor space in a lounge in an airport is rare. A full size pool with plane views is almost non existent! Definitely a bucket list travel item!
How Much We Spent:
Here's a full breakdown of what we spent. This includes all expenses incurred related to the trip, from plane food, to Amazon purchases. The only specialty expense this time was the Hot Logic, which we ended up returning because we want to get the larger size next time, but I still included it. Do the totals surprise you? Let me know in the comments below! Staying at an all inclusive resort definitely helps with keeping the cost of activities and drinks down :)
Expense | Total Points | Total Cash |
Flights | 46,400 | $310.78 |
Hotel | 92,000 | $0 |
Food | 0 | $500 |
Activities | 0 | 0 |
Other | 0 | $35 |
Total: | 138,400 | $845.78 |
I'll leave you with this incredible plane view as we left the PUJ airport. Until next time!
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