Find out how to plan a trip to Punta Cana on a budget. Get tips on accommodation, food, travel insurance, car rental and more. With this guide, you’ll have a complete plan for your trip.
1) Choose to go to Punta Cana in the low season months
The first tip that will help you save money and plan a trip to Punta Cana on a budget is the high and low season. Therefore, if possible, choose to go there in the low season months, which is when all travel items are much more affordable.
The high season in this city covers the months from December to March. During this period, you can expect to find more expensive accommodation, restaurants with higher demand and, consequently, higher prices, more crowded and expensive tours, etc.
If you go to Punta Cana in the low season, from the end of April to November, you’ll find everything quieter, with fewer people, no queues and no hassle, and, of course, better prices.
2) Buy your plane ticket to Punta Cana as far in advance as possible
The second fundamental tip for those who want to know how to plan a trip to Punta Cana on a budget is to buy your plane ticket as far in advance as possible.
It’s best to buy your ticket 6 months or even 1 year in advance to find the best prices and flight conditions. So, if you have the opportunity to do this in advance, know that this factor will greatly affect your cost-effective trip to this destination.
3) Buy tickets for Punta Cana tours in advance and online
Continuing with this super guide on how to plan a trip to Punta Cana on a budget, our recommendation for now is that you buy your tickets for the tours beforehand and online. The site we always use, which is the largest ticket site in the world and has all the tours at the best prices, is this one. It’s much cheaper and it’s a reliable company.
There you’ll find some unmissable tours, such as the parasailing flight in Punta Cana, the Saona Island beach tour and the buggy tour of Punta Cana. Also, know that their transfer service is one of the best of all.
Most tourists use the transfers to get around the city, to go to the airport or to take a tour of nearby Punta Cana. And the price to purchase this service is well worth it. So make sure you take a look at this site.
The advantage of buying your tickets in advance is that, on the days you’re in Punta Cana, you won’t have to go to the ticket office and queue to get to the sights and attractions. With this company we’ve mentioned, you’ll already have everything bought and you’ll only have to worry about having fun. This is certainly one of the main tips on how to travel cheaply to Punta Cana.
4) Choose the region and hotel for your stay in Punta Cana very well
A very important tip for your trip to Punta Cana is to choose the region and the hotel for your stay there. This item will be somewhat individual, as it depends on the amount of money you have for it and your needs. Example:
- Do you want a more economical hotel and don’t mind its distance from the tourist attractions?
- Do you prefer a cheap hotel that’s close to the city’s main attractions?
- Can you afford to spend a little more money and stay in a quality hotel with good services?
Analyze all these factors and start a detailed search from there.
Tips to help you find accommodation in Punta Cana:
Location: The best option for where to stay in Punta Cana is the Bávaro area. This is because this area has a luxurious infrastructure and many facilities; such as exclusive beaches, large stores, malls, nightclubs and trendy restaurants.
It’s definitely where Punta’s famous buzz is. Although it’s an area that requires a good budget, the cost-benefit ratio is worth it, as you’ll be close to almost all the tourist attractions in the area.
If you want to see more about where this area is and which hotels are there, click here to open a map we’ve put together showing all the hotels in this excellent region.
We’ve set the filter to only show hotels with a rating of 8 or above, which will guarantee you excellent accommodation. Just enter the date of your trip to see the prices and choose your hotel. If you stay within the orange line shown on the map, you can’t go wrong.
Use the hotel search engine: a great tip for finding good hotels at incredible prices in the area you want and saving a lot on accommodation is to use this Hotel Search Engine in Punta Cana. We always use it because it’s the largest hotel booking site in the world.
Not to mention that it has all the hotels in Punta Cana and around the world in its searches, with unbeatable prices due to the strong negotiation it does. And there you can check out the opinions of tourists who have already stayed in the hotels, which helps a lot when evaluating each one.
Free cancellation tip: another very good tip is that this search engine has a very strong partnership with the establishments and they offer free cancellation with almost all the hotels. This is great, because the factor that will save you the most on accommodation is advance notice. This is the most important tip.
The earlier you book, the cheaper you’ll pay. So you can book your hotel in advance to guarantee the lowest price, and if you later find a better one or don’t want to stay there, just cancel it.
5) Get an excellent SIM card to use your cell phone at will in Punta Cana
We can’t leave out of this article on how to plan a trip to Punta Cana on a budget the tip about a cell phone SIM card. Being able to use your cell phone at will and having the Internet working at all times will help you a lot to communicate with people – whether they are on the trip or not -, get around – using the cell phone’s GPS – and even post photos on social networks – sharing good times with your friends and family.
Using your international roaming abroad is usually the worst option and ends up being much more expensive. To use the Wi-Fi, most hotels charge a high daily fee and you can only use your cell phone inside the hotel.
So what most people do, and what is very worthwhile, is to buy an international prepaid SIM card. It turns out to be MUCH cheaper and you can use the Internet peacefully throughout your trip with an excellent signal.
A great suggestion, too, is the SIM card. After a few years of testing different SIM cards and traveling all over the world, the one we like best and still use today is this travel SIM card. It cost very little and offered a great connection. Best of all, the Internet is unlimited and at high speed
6) Rent a car to make the most of Punta Cana
Few people know that renting a car in some destinations is very advantageous and even cheap. In Punta Cana, for example, this is exactly the case.
If you’re staying at a hotel a lot, then we recommend other means of getting around. However, if your goal is to visit various beaches, go shopping and do a lot of sightseeing, then renting a car is definitely worth it.
What’s more, with a car, you have more comfort and freedom, being able to go anywhere at any time – without depending on anyone. In other words, it’s much better to have your own car to get around on your trip than to waste time looking for ride-hailing apps, cabs or even taking public transport.
How to find cheap car rental for Punta Cana?
1: Book your car in advance
Book online as soon as possible, because another tip for saving money and getting a cheap car is to book as far in advance as possible and online. The earlier you book, the cheaper you’ll pay. It’s well worth it and you’ll save a lot with promotions, paying much less compared to renting a car on the spot.
2: Don’t rent a GPS in Punta Cana
Another good tip for saving even more is not to rent a GPS and to use your cell phone’s GPS instead. It’s worth it, as you’ll save money by not having to rent the GPS and you’ll get a SIM card to use your cell phone at will in Punta Cana, practically for free.
3: Use this incredible price comparator
There are some car rental price comparators in Punta Cana (and throughout the Dominican Republic) that are sensational and search all the main car rental companies there, finding the best prices and excellent deals.
We recommend one that you can use by going to the website and entering the date of your trip. It then searches for all the best car rental companies.
If you want to do the search, click here on Car Rental Comparator. In just a few seconds, you’ll have all the options for renting a car in Punta Cana from the best companies on your screen, and you can choose the cheapest one. You really will save a lot.
More tips: prefer larger and reliable rental companies such as Alamo, Hertz, Dollar, Budget and Avis. Take out basic insurance at the time of booking, which is super important and is usually already included in the price, but don’t fall for the companies who, when you pick up the car, try to push extra insurance on you, which isn’t worth it.
7) Don’t forget to take out International Travel Insurance for Punta Cana
One point that we consider to be very important on a trip to Punta Cana or anywhere abroad is International Travel Insurance. This document will ensure that you are covered if you suffer any health problems or need medical assistance, for example.
If you go to Punta Cana without International Travel Insurance and you have a health problem, for example, not only will you have to spend a lot on medical consultations, tests and, depending on the situation, hospitalization, but you’ll also have to go to the trouble of finding a good hospital with quality doctors, etc. In other words: it’s that economy that, in our opinion, doesn’t pay off.
With International Travel Insurance, you can go with peace of mind that if you need it, you’ll have all the support you need there.
How to find cheap international travel insurance for Punta Cana?
Option 1: There is an excellent travel insurance comparison website which, just like the car insurance one, searches for travel insurance from all the main companies in the world. In less than a minute, you’ll have a quote for all the travel insurances from the best companies and you can buy yours right away. If you want to do your research now, click here on travel insurance comparison.
We recommend Travel Ace, Assist Card, GTA, Green Card and SulAmerica – which are the companies we have already taken out insurance with, are world leaders and have offices all over the world. Also pay attention to the value of the medical assistance cover and baggage reimbursement, which are the most commonly used.
