Roommates, there has been a large conversation based around the number of mysterious tourist deaths happening the the Dominican Republic recently, and Delta airlines is offering passengers an alternative to traveling to the island.
According to CNN, Delta is giving passengers flying to one of the Dominican Republic’s airports the opportunity to change or cancel their tickets free of charge.
Delta is offering a waiver, which will cover flights to and from Punta Cana, where several American tourists have passed away in the last year.
The waiver is reportedly being offered for travel through August 15, and passengers can rebook tickets for another destination no later than November 20. If passengers choose to cancel the flight altogether, they will receive a credit that they can use on Delta within one year of the original booking date.
Delta’s website says the waiver options are being offered “due to recent events in Punta Cana”, and the airline hopes to provide customers with flexibility to best fit their travel needs. Other airlines, such as American and JetBlue, also say they will work with passengers to change or cancel flights to D.R on a case-by-case basis.
According to data collected from travel analytic firm ForwardKeys, flight cancellations to and from the Dominican Republic have significantly increased by 51% compared to last year.
David Tarsh, a spokesperson for ForwardKeys, says the decline is similar to what happens after violence breaks out in a country.
“You can get a long continued problem or things can recover quickly, depending on whether people see the threat as being contained or ongoing,” he says. “The problem you have here is the uncertainty, because the deaths are a mystery.”
As we previously reported, at least 10 American tourists have passed away in the Dominican Republic in the last year. The FBI has now opened an investigation into the alcohol served at the resorts as a potential cause of death.
