Travel to Cuba for US citizens
 

Am working a trip to Cuba from the US arranged by a British Agency. Intend to travel through Miami since we are on the East Coast. Two couples who must arrange flights on our own. Any ideas or leads would be appreciated. And thank you.

Jackly

Going to alert an MOD to move this to a more appropriate forum as this is not "travel news"

Do you have to go through MIA? There are many other routing options.

What are your concerns?

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

The Travel News forum is for the posting and discussion of links to published general travel news stories.

I'll send your thread to a more appropriate forum where you can get some assistance.

cblaisd
Moderator, Travel News

Given the reported price of flights from the U.S. and the cost of tourist cards, I would consider flying from Canada if you're close enough. Flights on WS may earn mile in both your FFPs.

Your post is a bit unclear to me. The touring while in Cuba is being arranged by a British Agency? Do you have a UK passport? Or a US one? (not that it really makes a difference if embarking from US)
As of this month (September) there are commercial flights (American Airlines, Jetblue and lots of others) available from various US cities (through Miami). However, passengers on these flights must fall into one of 12 "official" categories of reasons for their trip. Pure tourism or beach vacation are not included.
If your British Agency arranged tour is a people-to-people type tour (doing cultural activities and meeting Cubans), pick that reason on the form. Form comes along with visa/tourist card application.
You really don't need to go on an expensive tour any more. Just pick your reason of the 12 and DIY once there. The US government (if you are coming back through the US) hasn't checked for quite some time on activities while there, beyond maybe a casual question. Lodging is easy to book DIY. Bus travel once there is also easy to book. Day guides are available for hire in Havana and elsewhere.
If embarking from Miami (or anywhere in US), you will need a pink visa/tourist card (U$70-$100 depending on who is selling it), not a green one (U$25).You can get it through the new Cuban Embassy in D.C. or through a third party designated by the airline.
Or fly through Cancun (on Cubana) or Mexico City (Cubana or Interjet) for about U$325 (Cancun to Havana).

Reported by whom?
There are some incredible promotional fares at the moment.
How about U$265 RT from 'US-city-5-hours-south-of-Montreal'?
Is it still cheaper to shlep to Canada, then fly to Cuba?

Lots of good information here: https://www.aa.com/i18n/plan-travel/...tions/cuba.jsp Service to 5 cities from Miami can be booked on aa.com.

Scheduled commercial flights to Havana will start later this year. If you are going before then, try public charter carriers like http://www.havanaair.com/ (this is the charter company that I used-- their flights are operated by Eastern Airlines 737s).

There are commercial flights now from various US cities.
Varadero is only a couple of hours from Havana by bus, for one example of where to fly into until the commercial Havana flights start up.