Cheap Flights for Travellers?

[Gambitt]

HAVANA, Oct 20 (Reuters) - New Orleans hopes to cash in on an improvement in U.S.-Cuba relations by getting direct charter flights between New Orleans and Havana, the U.S. city's mayor said in Havana on Tuesday.

"We see a huge opportunity if President (Barack) Obama continues to go in the direction he's headed," Ray Nagin said in an interview with Reuters.

"The first thing is to get the license from the U.S., then everything else falls into line," he added, saying word on the fate of the license could come as early as January.

Nagin was heading a delegation of New Orleans officials in Cuba to talk with the government about topics ranging from hurricane preparation to commercial opportunities, including flights.

Cuba and New Orleans, about 700 miles (1,125 km) apart, once had close economic ties as goods sailed across the Gulf of Mexico, but most of that was halted by the U.S. trade embargo imposed 47 years ago to undermine the Cuban government.

Under Obama, the United States and Cuba have taken small steps toward ending hostilities that date back to the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power and turned Cuba to communism.

Obama has eased the embargo by allowed Cuban-Americans to travel freely to Cuba, and bills are pending in the U.S. Congress that would end a general ban on Americans visiting the island just 90 miles (145 km) from Florida.

If the ban is lifted, New Orleans would benefit by having flights to and from Havana and an increase in tourist traffic, Nagin said.

Charter flights are currently allowed between the two countries, but not direct commercial flights.

So instead of paying the super-inflated prices out of Canada, you could drive to Buffalo etc.  On to New Orleans, and then to Havana!

Book your hotel direct, and you'd save a fortune!

[Windsortraveler]

Yeah!! Sounds good to me - a few days in New Orleans at either end of a Cuban trip.
Detroit to New Orleans, then on to Cuba saves 4 hours of travel time to TO.

[Jammyisme]

Whatcha talking about. You would still have to make your way all the way down to New Orleans.  * dont get it* 

[Windsortraveler]

It takes me 20 minutes to get to the Detroit airport, about 4 hours to get to the Toronto airport, but right now I can't get to Cuba through Detroit.

[Jammyisme]

okay so if you live right beside the detroit airport, then I would understand. In my case, it doesnt make any sense because I am an hour and half drive from Massena. So I might as well go to Montreal. Toronto is a 5 hour drive from our place.

[Windsortraveler]

Yeah, the view from my window as I write this is of Detroit, right across the river.