The airlines are allowed to do business with Cuba under very limited circumstances, and "do business with" is considered to be pretty much everything by the Feds.
If you have an authorized reason to go to Cuba, you can simply fly there from the US -- Alligent, AA, CO, and ExpressJet already fly there, though only as charters so you can't use FF miles.
If you're booking a flight to Cuba via a 3rd country, the airline can be 99% sure you're doing it to break US travel restrictions. They don't want to be a party to this, so they don't allow such redemptions.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alanh
The airlines are allowed to do business with Cuba under very limited circumstances, and "do business with" is considered to be pretty much everything by the Feds.
If you have an authorized reason to go to Cuba, you can simply fly there from the US -- Alligent, AA, CO, and ExpressJet already fly there, though only as charters so you can't use FF miles.
If you're booking a flight to Cuba via a 3rd country, the airline can be 99% sure you're doing it to break US travel restrictions. They don't want to be a party to this, so they don't allow such redemptions.
Just out of personal experience, I've booked several tickets to Cuba for my friend (a US Citizen) who has a girlfriend there. He books round-trip tickets from Toronto to Varadero via Canadian charter airlines like Sunwing, and flies to Toronto on American carriers.
His passport is never stamped as having visited Cuba, and the Canadian officials are mum to the fact that he is coming from Cuba. He's done this plenty of times and hasn't been caught once.
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This entire discussion just goes to show how archaic this Cuba embargo thing has become. It doesn't really penalize anybody except American citizens that want to travel to Cuba (and those that REALLY do will go anyway and know how to do that). Not much different than somebody going to Canada to buy Cuban cigars. As a diver I would love to see what Cuba has to offer but have never bitten on the chance to go ex-Mexico like a lot of diving friends have done.
Since the current administration wants to get buddy-buddy with Iran and other regimes, I don't see why Cuba isn't on the short list for the USA to enter the 21st Century.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by safigan
Are we sure we want to be giving tips on this forum about how to break the law and get away with it?
It's not against US law to go to Cuba, it's against the law to spend money there.
Regardless.....do you live in a free country? Is America, "the land of the free?". Why bow to your dictators. If beating your wife was REQUIRED by law, would you do it?
Think about this...what is wrong with Cuba, and not wrong with other communist countries like Vietnam, China, Laos, and North Korea (all of which you Americans permitted to visit - if those countries let you in). Heck, you can even go to Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan if you so choose. But sunshine and cigars, that's something that CANNOT be supported. It's laughable, really. This Cuba embargo is someone in the 1960's having a chip on their shoulder, and Americans keeping up the insanity for decades after.
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Last edited by roadtripman; Jul 10, 09 at 2:23 pm.
...what is wrong with Cuba, and not wrong with other communist countries like Vietnam, China, Laos, and North Korea (all of which you Americans permitted to visit - if those countries let you in). Heck, you can even go to Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan if you so choose...
At the risk of veering dangerously close to OMNI/PR territory, but to answer the question, there is only one thing wrong with Cuba. In four parts:
1. Florida is a swing state in Presidential elections. It made all the difference in 2000.
2. Neither major party can therefore afford to alienate a significant number of Florida voters.
3. Lots of ex-Cubans vote in Florida.
4. They don't want the U.S. to change its policies.
If you don't think this sort of logic should determine U.S. policy, I'm in your corner. Complaints, to make a difference, should be directed to your elected representatives.
Are we sure we want to be giving tips on this forum about how to break the law and get away with it?
I do not recognize any u.s. laws, but choose to adhere to the one's I agree with. Why should I be censored from discussing something that the u.s. Govt thinks is illegal?
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Quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by safigan
Are we sure we want to be giving tips on this forum about how to break the law and get away with it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhlyingRPh
I do not recognize any u.s. laws, but choose to adhere to the one's I agree with. Why should I be censored from discussing something that the u.s. Govt thinks is illegal?
We shouldn't (but this might not be the place for it). The US government has nothing to do with my life nor the lives of probably a substantial percentage of the readers of this forum.
That said, if I choose to lend advice and help an American brother overcome the "freedoms" imposed on him by his country's pseudo-totalitarian regime & help facilitate his travelling to Cuba if he so chooses, it's my prerogative to do so. I am bound by no US law, thanks be to God.
This might be delving into OMNI territory, but seriously, it's sad how some Americans go along with their country's "laws" mindlessly. The end results can be catastrophic (take Hitler's Germany, for an extreme example). Don't let your government play you like mindless minions who cave to their every word, question every "law" that is proposed and have a mind of your own - that my friends, is true freedom. "Cuba is bad because my government said so, but North Korea is fine!" - take a step back and realize how idiotic that sounds. Oh well, smile and nod.
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Last edited by roadtripman; Jul 10, 09 at 9:11 pm.
