MCO-HAV
 

Just booked my first trip to Cuba, with B6 out of MCO.

I would like to know how the check in process works, where at the airport do you purchase a visa.

Can I make it if I show up 2h before departure instead of the recommended 3h?

Thanks for any advice!

In FLL it is purchased at the check-in counter and 2h would be enough IME.

Thank you!

I should note this is my first jetBlue trip, I chose the Blue fare without checked bags. Is it worth paying for the bag 24h in advance? I would consider doing that as I am concerned on how the payment is going to go at HAV as credit cards do not work well in Cuba.

I'm not sure if JetBlue even lets you buy bags before check-in after purchasing the Blue fare. I never saw the option online at least. Ring up their customer service and ask the question, the wait time should be pretty short :)

I flew this route back in January. Check in at the Cuba specific counter at MCO (you can recognize that you're in the correct one if the line is really long), pay $50 for a visa and you're good to go. This took about 25 minutes for me, but it was a full a321 flight.

I would highly recommend NOT checking bags as everyone says it takes one or two HOURS for your bags to come out. If you have only carry on bags you should be through customs in about 5 minutes, and then another 20 to exchange money.

Unrelated to the flight, take more cash than you think you'll need. Better to have extra than run out and not have access to more.

Thanks very much for your advice!

One more question, was the flight long enough to receive drinks and snacks?

They ran through with a small selection of items, you could ask for something different but they were hoping everyone just chose from what they had on their tray. The flight is right at an hour so they have to be pretty quick.

Well they did downgrade the equipment to an A320 and my flight is an E190 so I guess they have less passengers to serve as the embraer is much smaller.

There are also fewer crew members. E190 is 2 F/A for 100 pax versus A321 which has 4 F/A for ~200 pa

Though it is the same ratio, one FA per 50 pax.