American Airlines use it position in the Caribbean market to set high prices for flight between the countries within the region. I ask several time to AA customer service the reason of why a 45 minutes flight cost between 30% and 50% more that a 4 hours flight. They never give me a clear explanation.
It's amazing that a roundtrip ticket Santo Domingo-Newark with a stop in San Juan cost less that a roundtrip ticket Santo Domingo-San Juan.
The reason appear to be that because in those routes in the caribbean AA is the only option but to other destinations like Miami. New York and Newark they have a lot of competitors like JetBlue, Continental, Spirit and more.
Lowest fares during the month of September using the dates flexible option in aa.com
| Route | Fare | Tax | Total Price |
| SDQ-JFK | $198 | $165.60 | $363.60 |
| SDQ-SJU | $254 | $137.40 | $391.40 |
| SJU-JFK | $198 | $44.20 | $242.20 |
| SJU-SDQ | $254 | $96.80 | $350.80 |
*The colors refer to the route line in the map
Lowest fares during the month of October using the dates flexible option in aa.com
| Route | Fare | Tax | Total Price |
| SDQ-JFK | $150 | $151.60 | $301.00 |
| SDQ-SJU | $254 | $137.40 | $391.40 |
| SJU-JFK | $154 | $44.20 | $198.20 |
| SJU-SDQ | $254 | $96.80 | $350.80 |
Remember this:
British Airways got a $300 million fine in price-fixing conspiracy case
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/23/business/NA-FIN-US-British-Airways-Fine.php
It see suspectious that Iberia (Partner of AA in the Oneworld alliance) and Copa (Partner of Continental and AA) stop the services between SDQ and SJU.
I submit a complaint via email with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and this is the response:
"Congress deregulated domestic air fares a number of years ago; we have
no authority to prescribe rates. Airlines set their own fares based on
costs and competition in individual markets. Fares are based on the
competitive situation, market forces and traffic potential in each
city-pair market, not primarily on distance. They are also based on
unit costs, and denser markets offer economies of scale."In other words AA can do whatever they want with the fares and continue with this abuse.AA have at least 4 daily flights between SDQ and SJU and sometimes this flight operate with less than 50% of seat sold.
Maybe they can be more efficient with only two daily flights with all passenger seats sold then they may reduce the cost of the tickets.
