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Flights to Cuba

Gary....at this point it is just nostalgic romanticism. According to Obama rules quoted in the Miami Herald yesterday, the ones that don't need a permit  from OFAC are the ones flying there...American, JetBlue and a handful of Mickey Mouse nobody's with 25 year old planes. So American has their foot in the door without any additional homework, they are the largest in Miami and the Caribbean. The Mickey Mouse players are all controlled by Fidel's former security personnel. Its a Mickey Mouse Mafia that squeezes every nickel they can out of the passengers. $48 of medical insurance in each ticket (even though you can buy it in Havana $2/day), $20 per checked bag, $2/lb after 44 lbs, carry on bags are weighed as well. They once told me to put my laptop on the scale. $90 for a Visa that you can buy in Havana for $15.At Christmas time I paid $550 RT plus all those little fees. I was at $800 before I landed Havana. The planes were coming back with 60 passengers on an Airbus 320. Plus $25 CUC exit fee to leave Cuba. Now the tickets are $350 plus all those little fees. United's problem is they don't have their foot  in the door. They have to "deal" with Fidels cronies to see how they are going to get in. Cuba's excuse is going to be: "Can you imagine 1000 planes trying to land all at once in Havana?" "We just cant handle that load" "Lets just keep working with our homeboy's and their broken down planes" "Pencil and paper businesses seem to work better for us". BTW, the Charter flights to Cuba is a ALL cash business. You wanna pay with a credit card its a 7-9% fee. No paper trail and they all go bankrupt at one point. At this moment I have a friend waiting for a plane that is "broken" 8+ hours in Miami. No meals, no answers the staff just disappears. John
 
Johnny-O! said:
Gary....at this point it is just nostalgic romanticism. According to Obama rules quoted in the Miami Herald yesterday, the ones that don't need a permit  from OFAC are the ones flying there...American, JetBlue and a handful of Mickey Mouse nobody's with 25 year old planes. So American has their foot in the door without any additional homework, they are the largest in Miami and the Caribbean. The Mickey Mouse players are all controlled by Fidel's former security personnel. Its a Mickey Mouse Mafia that squeezes every nickel they can out of the passengers. $48 of medical insurance in each ticket (even though you can buy it in Havana $2/day), $20 per checked bag, $2/lb after 44 lbs, carry on bags are weighed as well. They once told me to put my laptop on the scale. At Christmas time I paid $550 RT plus all those little fees. I was at $700 before I landed Havana. The planes were coming back with 60 passengers on an Airbus 320. Plus $25 CUC exit fee to leave Cuba. Now the tickets are $350 plus all those little fees. United's problem is they don't have their foot  in the door. They have to "deal" with Fidels cronies to see how they are going to get in. Cuba's excuse is going to be: "Can you imagine 1000 planes trying to land all at once in Havana?" "We just cant handle that load" "Lets just keep working with our homeboy's and their broken down planes" "Pencil and paper businesses seem to work better for us". BTW, the Charter flights to Cuba is a ALL cash business. You wanna pay with a credit card its a 7-9% fee. No paper trail and they all go bankrupt at one point. At this moment I have a friend waiting for a plane that is "broken" 8+ hours in Miami. No meals, no answers the staff just disappears. John
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Thanks for putting a dose of reality on this fairy tale that some have touted as a major breakthrough... ;)
 
Just contacted the charter company that I get the tickets through. They said although the rule is there and the press has released that almost anyone can travel, the classification for travel has not been established for each category of passenger. That is to say, someone that travels to see their family goes under a A4 General Family License. The other authorized 12 groups; religious, university, cultural, press, BOTL's etc would have a classification A6, A8 and a subsequent title to it. At the moment those classifications have not been released by OFAC to the Charter companies, so officially there is a delay until so. I honestly think everything will be settled this month, but until then you cant travel unless you're going to see granma. John 
 
Patience is a virtue..... I don't have it, this is young, but will work out over time. We are here thinking in terms of sticks and rum. If they can bring back Havana City to its heyday the public will jump on and cause the equal and opposite reaction IMHO.
 
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