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I was wondering if anyone had any practical experience of travelling to Cuba from the US. We have used a 241 voucher for return flights to Newark with a view to heading somewhere warmer. Looking at the various travel advices, it looks like we would need a tourist visa if we were heading to Cuba from any non-US country. However, travelling for tourist reasons from US (regardless of nationality) remains illegal (I think). We have ESTAs for the purposes of our US travel. Don’t want to run the risk of being banned from entering/leaving the US. Some blogs talk about going go Mexico but that looks costly and will eat into our timetable. All looks very circular and we are cautious travellers so may well end up ending to Florida as a plan B. Any thoughts gracefully received.
Eventually your ESTA will run out and they will most likely ask you in your next ESTA application whether you’ve been to any states that support terrorism. And USA thinks it includes Cuba since Jan 2021. That’ll make your US trips more difficult — you’ll need to apply for a visa via a U.S. consulate. Many people think it’s not worth the trouble.
As above, unless you want to visit Cuba more than being guaranteed to be able to subsequently visit the USA, there are plenty of other warm destinations you can connect to from NYC, many of which you can book with avios if you want. Far and away the simplest option would be Florida as you’re then only taking domestic flights within the States and not having the endure any more immigration queues (including when you head home via Newark!) But if you don’t mind the extra hassle you could connect to various Caribbean islands or Mexico.
Another option might be the US Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico – effectively the Caribbean but classed as a domestic connection from the US mainland. Hawaii would also work this way but of course you’re looking at more distance and expense to cover.
*I have seen very reasonable cash fares from NYC to Bahamas which might also be an option as the islands are reasonably close to the US mainland.
Many thanks all for the input. Not sure we want to disrupt our ability to travel to the US so I think a plan B is in order.
Personally I’d much rather avoid a third world crazy violent country and go to Cuba
You make a good point, @yorkieflyer, and actually following our US Xmas trip I cancelled the other 3 US trips I had planned this year, so underwhelmed as I was with the price gouging/tipping pressure/etc. But for us the US is a pretty crucial transit point for our annual visits to GCM so wouldn’t want to compromise that.
There has been a slight relaxation – https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cuba-us-esta-ban-tourists-visa-b2273349.html but still no ESTA if Cuba has been visited since 2021.
Personally I’m of the opinion that US has no way to know about most travel there – your passport isn’t stamped on entry and they aren’t actively going to be seeking out Brits who went there on a TUI charter one time. But I certainly wouldn’t fly there on a US carrier / out of the US as that data could be shared and in reality I’d find it easier to avoid going at all at this time than risk my ESTA US entry ability.
You know the UK and EU shares passenger data for all its flights since 9/11 right? Unless you go from Venezuela, Iran or Russia, it’s highly likely that the passenger manifest from your flight to Cuba was shared with the US.
As a family we travelled from Miami to Havana with American Airlines and back to Orlando with Jet Blue. This was prior to 2021. It was easy. When we returned to the US we didn’t get any questions. Passports were stamped in Cuba and the US. It’s a shame that the US has taken these steps. Cuba is definitely worth visiting.
Thanks all for the views and insights.
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