Booking a flight to Havana from London using my BA Avios and companion voucher

[Malcolm Cork]

Can anybody tell me how to do this as I tried to use the BA Executive Club to book with avios but it told me they don’t fly to this destination but Iberia do via Madrid

[NorthernLass]

You would have to search for availability on ba.com, as you would for BA flights. IB doesn’t guarantee to release any seats, though.

You could use your voucher to go via somewhere else. The USA might cause issues (and make sure you’re aware of the current issue with visiting Cuba and subsequently applying for an ESTA), but you might be able to go via Mexico or a Caribbean island. Certainly there are flights from GCM to HAV.

For more on this, have a look at the various articles and threads on using the voucher on Iberia and Aer Lingus.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

To echo the above point bu @NorthernLass visiting Cuba (even via another country) means you can no longer use an ESTA and will be required to apply for a visa if you intend to visit the US in future (and that would include merely using it as a stop off point to somewhere else)

That may not bother you one iota but you need to be aware of the issue.

[OxfordBen]

We did this last year in October, paid 85K Avios plus £456 for two people in business MAD>HAV>MAD using an Amex voucher. Just search for MAD > HAV in the BA Book with Avios page, it accepts those values in the fields. Although as said above availability is patchy.
We booked the LHR>MAD>LHR legs on a separate redemption with no voucher to reduce the taxes.
A couple of thoughts:
– If you can get the flights then do it, best trip we’ve had in years. Would go back like a shot, Havana is amazing. We did a multi-centre Havana, Trinidad, Varadero over 12 days.
– Iberia business class is actually not bad for couples, the staggered centre seats in rows 1/3/5 are close together and you can chat.
– The US visa thing is real, if you think you will want to visit the US in the near future then factor it in. Once you visit Cuba, you must get a visa for the US, even existing ESTAs are immediately invalid. I’m currently applying for a B1/B2 visa, it’s $185 to apply and the lead time for the mandatory interview is 100 days. Will be worth it I think, the visa lasts 10 years, but certainly something to keep in mind.