What To Expect When Traveling to Cuba from US: Guide for Americans

A few years ago, the Obama administration opened up travel to Cuba by allowing for individual people-to-people travel to the country. While tourism is still illegal, Americans will no longer need to sign up for one of those expensive people-to-people tours by a licensed operator. Without the requirement of signing up with licensed tour operators, travel to Cuba became much more affordable.

In June, the Trump administration announced the cancellation of this “deal.” Since the announcement, policy around travel to Cuba has become quite murky, as there had been no regulation/enforcement changes since then. Policy does take time to go into effect, and at the time of this article, direct flights are still being offered from the US into Cuba. Here’s what to expect if you are flying from the US directly into Cuba (via EWR airport in New Jersey).

Checking In

You will not be able to check in online and get a boarding pass if you are flying directly into Cuba.  United at EWR has a special check in desk for those traveling to Cuba. There are signs around the check in area to direct you to the right area for check in.

Before you can check in for the flight you will first need to get a visa. Don’t worry about getting a visa in advance – there is a visa desk conveniently located next to the check in desk. The cost for the visa is $75 ($50 for the visa itself and $25 service fee for the “processing” of the visa), and you will need to pay this with your credit card.

The visa is a paper form that you will need to fill out with your name, DOB, and passport information. There are two sections to fill out by hand – one for arrival and one for departure. We were told that the customs people in Cuba are quite strict with the visas. Key message is don’t make mistakes or cross out anything on the visa or else you will need to buy a new visa when you arrive, so be careful!

Once you get your visa you can move over to the next desk for check in. The agents are supposed to ask you about the reason for travel, but no one asked us any questions at all. After getting checked in, you will get your “Cuba travel ready” sticker on your boarding pass, and you are ready to go!

 

Security & Boarding

After the separate checking in process, security and boarding process is the same as any other flight. At the gate, the agent asked for us to show our passport with the visa, which is pretty standard for all international flights.

Getting into Cuba

During the flight, the flight attendants will provide the forms needed to get into Cuba. Besides the visa and your passport, you will also need to fill out 3 other forms: the international embarkation and debarkation form, customs form, and a “sanitary statement for travelers” AKA health form.

I filled all forms out on the plane, but for some reason, the only form that the Cuban officials took from me was the customs declaration form. Even when I left the country, I still had the completed embarkation/debarkation and health forms with me….

Arrival into Cuba

Because flights from the US are still fairly new, you might end up landing in “Terminal 2,” where they used to host smaller charter flights. If you happen to land in this terminal, be ready for some chaos. While this is called an international terminal, its appearance and facilities are nowhere near the international facilities that we are used to.

When you enter the arrivals area, you will first go through customs/immigration, which didn’t take too long. Cuba requires health/travel insurance for all travelers into Cuba, and so I had my travel insurance documents printed out for immigration. However, it was not needed. The immigration officer reviewed my passport, took my picture, and stamped my visa before sending me on my merry way.

At this time (and until I leave the country) I still had my visa with me. When I opened the door from the customs/immigration area, I saw absolute madness. Everyone is required to go through metal detector screening at security before going to baggage claim, and this was where the bottleneck was. The space between customs/immigration and security was very small, and there was a very long line that was snaked/wrapped around the tight space. Since the customs doors swing outwards, the ones closest to those doors are frequently surprised/hurt by the swinging doors of unsuspecting travelers coming out.

The security check point only makes you go through metal detectors so you do not have to worry about liquids or shoes. After going through security, you are then let out into the baggage claim area. It took us a while getting through security so we were glad we had only hand carry with us so we didn’t have to worry about our checked bags being in the baggage claim area for long.

Upon exiting the baggage claim area, I handed over my customs form to the customs officer at the door. They did not take any of my other forms, including my visa certificate.

Money Exchange

US ATM cards and credit cards do not work in Cuba, so the first thing to do when you arrive in Cuba is to exchange money or else you won’t go too far. There was a money exchange booth at the baggage claim exit, but it was closed! Well, great.

After some confusion, we finally got some help in getting to the money exchange at the check in area. Apparently, this was the only place for money exchange out of the entire terminal. To get there, we had to exit the arrivals area, go outside (face the crowd of taxi drivers and hustlers trying to get business), and go into the check in/departures area for the booth. And of course, there was a loooong line waiting for us at the only money exchange booth. We had no choice since we cannot use any of the currency we brought, so we waited.

Money Exchange Tips:

• USD is penalized at 10% in Cuba, plus exchange fee of around 3% -3.5% so if you want a better stretch for your money, it might be better to convert money into Euros first before getting into Cuba.
• After asking around, it seems that the exchange fee at the airport isn’t too far off from the city (unless you go with black market), so we exchanged most of our money at the airport to avoid the hassle of having to find a bank (and lining up too) later on.
• Make sure you know the exchange rates and have a calculator in hand. Count everything before leaving the desk. Fraud is prevalent at these money exchanges (not sure about the airport though).
• Since there is one line for those arriving and departing you may be able to find someone leaving who is willing to exchange CUCs for your USD at market rate, but note this is considered black market so only do so at your own risk.

Getting to Havana

2 hours after landing, we made it past security and got out money exchanged for Cuban convertible pesos (or CUCs), the currency that most visitors will use in this 2-currency system. With actual spendable money in hand, we proceeded to getting our taxi. In Cuba, it is customary to agree on a fixed price before getting into a taxi. This is where good negotiation skills and persistence would be helpful. Generally, cost for getting into Havana is around 25 CUCs. It is good to do some research before hand to know what cost may be for getting to your destination. Here is the official posted rate for the taxi we took to get into Havana.

 

Leaving Cuba

If you are flying back to the US on a US-based airline, you might end up at Terminal 2 again. And as you can see when you arrive, there isn’t much in that terminal, I am afraid.

Although it is advised that you arrive 4 hours before your flight, there isn’t really a need to do so. There was a long line at check in, but the check in desk wasn’t even open until less than 3 hours before the flight. It was great to have Premiere status on United, because we were able to bypass the long check in line. There was no one in the Premiere line!

After getting through check in, we went past the currency exchange area we were at when we arrived to go through immigration/customs. The immigration process was quick – the officer checked my passport and took my visa slip and then I was through.  For some reason, they did not want the health form and the embarkation/debarkation forms, so I brought those back with me to the states. Souvenir? 🙂

After immigration/customs, I went through security and I was through! Quick note – there is no such thing as pre-check, so you will need to remove your shoes and no liquids are allowed. If you are in sandals, you may want to bring emergency socks so you don’t have to walk around barefoot like I did. (Yuck!)

The departures terminal is quite small. There is one cafe where you can get coffee and Cuban sandwiches, 2 small duty free shops, a few smaller kiosks selling small souvenirs, and one currency exchange booth. For those with VIP status there is also a VIP lounge, although it was not opened when we were there in the middle of the day, and I have no idea what qualifications you will need to gain access to this lounge. Thus I wouldn’t count on going into this lounge!

Cuban currency is useless everywhere else outside of Cuba, so this is your chance to use up or exchange the CUCs that you have left. Unfortunately, you are limited to the very small (but busy) duty free shop and the cafe for spending your money. Luckily, the duty free shop does have rum and cuban cigars for sale, so I was able to easily spend my remaining currency in that shop. When buying my Cuban cigars, the cashier at the shop offered to exchange my leftover CUCs for USD 1:1, so I did not have to go through the exchange booth and pay the exchange fee. I ended up with some leftover money, so I took her up on that deal. Why would she be interested in this? I am not sure, but the USD I received in exchange for CUCs was legit, so I was happy.

After a happy shopping spree on last-minute souvenirs, we boarded the flight and said good bye to Cuba. With all the travel restrictions I am not sure when I will be back, but I had a great time while it lasted. Until next time! (?)

Getting back to the US

My friend and I both had Global Entry, so we went through immigration very quickly. No one asked us questions about our trip to Cuba. After going through the standard Global Entry electronic forms, we were through immigration and back home!