Travel to Cuba is about to get much, much cheaper

Travel to Cuba is about to get much, much cheaper
Updated by Michelle Hackman on February 15, 2016, 4:40 p.m. ET @MHackman
michelle.hackman@vox.com

On Tuesday morning, the US and Cuba are expected to sign a civil
aviation agreement in Havana, marking the first time since the Cuba
embargo was put in place half a century ago that Americans will be able
to fly to the island on commercial airlines.

It's a huge breakthrough in President Barack Obama's push to normalize
diplomatic relations between the two countries, but it's also an
enormous opportunity for Americans who are now thinking of making Cuba
their next vacation spot.

It is still technically illegal to travel to Cuba as a tourist, and will
remain so until the embargo is lifted.

But the Obama administration has already made it much easier to travel
to Cuba under one of 12 permitted categories, including trips with
humanitarian, religious, or educational missions. Though gaining
permission from the government once required preapproval and a detailed
itinerary, Americans wishing to travel to Cuba now need only check the
right box on a visa form at the airport.

Even so, Americans wishing to vacation in the island nation must do so
on costly charter flights leaving primarily from Miami and New York,
leaving them little flexibility in planning trips.

"We're in a Cuba travel bubble right now, where prices are very high,
and there are limited flights available," said Alana Tummino, head of
the Cuba Working Group at the Americas Society and Council of the
Americas. "With the opening of commercial flights, it means you're going
to have a huge increase in daily flights to Cuba, which can only mean
prices will become competitive and be driven down."

Resuming commercial flights between the two nations removes one more
obstacle between Americans and tropical Cuban vacations.

Why are commercial flights so much better than charter flights?

Right now, charter flights from New York and Miami – the two main sites
where charter companies have based their hubs – operate on sparse
schedules and cost much more than reasonable market rates.

Flights out of New York only leave a couple of days a week, for example.
And they run about $850 per ticket. A flight from Miami to Havana, which
is about a 40-minute trip, runs about $450. Needless to say, these
flights are not eligible for mileage points, either.

By all accounts, a vast majority of these flights — approximately 20 per
day – are completely booked.

Under the framework of the current deal, American airline providers will
be able to fly to Havana up to 20 times per day. They can also operate
up to 10 flights to each of Cuba's nine other international airports.
According to NPR, that allows for as many as 110 flights bound for Cuba
per day. That means the deal will allow for more than five times the
number of flights currently being operated.

The hope is that once commercial flights resume, the increased
competition will drive down ticket prices. It will also mean that
flights to Cuba will be offered at more airports, cutting down the cost
of buying connecting flights to Miami or New York.

Commercial airlines offer numerous services to consumers that are not
typical of charter companies. People will be able to buy tickets online,
for instance, and have access to 24-hour customer service.

There are so many American airline companies vying for flying rights
that once commercial flights actually resume, consumers will have their
choice of airline through which to apply points and accumulate mileage,
as well.

When will commercial flights actually begin?

Once the agreement is formally signed Tuesday, airlines will have a
15-day window to submit applications to the Department of
Transportation, permitting them to serve Cuban destinations. Each
carrier would also have to work out details with Cuban aviation officials.

So far, airlines including American, Delta, Jet Blue, Southwest, and
United all plan to apply for routes, some to multiple Cuban cities.

US officials hope to parcel out flights to different carriers by the
summer. That would mean that if all goes as planned, the first flights
will take off by the fall — just before Obama leaves office.

Source: Travel to Cuba is about to get much, much cheaper - Vox -
http://www.vox.com/2016/2/15/11005260/cuba-us-travel