Havana

[Coco Des Iles]

True that. I spent 2 weeks in Havana and surrounding areas last August just to visit a place that has intrigued me for year. So been there and done that now back to South America.

The Tall Man.

You must be kidding! South America better than Cuba! Maybe Dominican Republic, but South America? Please explain.

[The Tall Man]

The mongering scene in Cuba has been dead for years.

The only remaining action will be the hard core girls who do business in the Havana discos.

These girls usually ask $100 for 90 minutes worth of work then they return back to their pimp boyfriend who's got a second client waiting for her.

True that. I spent 2 weeks in Havana and surrounding areas last August just to visit a place that has intrigued me for year. So been there and done that now back to South America.

The Tall Man.

[Adinga]

The mongering scene in Cuba has been dead for years.

The only remaining action will be the hard core girls who do business in the Havana discos.

These girls usually ask $100 for 90 minutes worth of work then they return back to their pimp boyfriend who's got a second client waiting for her.

[Combo]

Thank you for the invite my Canadian monger. However most places monger like to travel is south east and west. The Canadian option has always been there. So has free healthcare. But Canada is still too much of a hassle as far as time consuming. I've never even seen a connecting flight through there.

You don't "connect" per se, at least not on the same airline. Fly to Toronto or Montreal and from there take a charter like Sunwing. Quite easy if you live in the Midwest or East Coast.

In the Winter you are correct. It's probably better to fly South right away to reduce risk of either flight being delayed.

[GrownMan1]

Concerning latest post, we invite all Americans to come to Canada and fly from most lager cities to Havana, Varardeo, Cienfuegos, Santa Clara, Camaguey, Holguin, Manazanillo, Santiago, CayoLargo. Cubana de aviacion, Air Canada, Sunwing, Air Transat and West Jet offers direct flights to these cities. Prices are very low. We never cut the bridges with Cuba, and we are proud we never did.

Thank you for the invite my Canadian monger. However most places monger like to travel is south east and west. The Canadian option has always been there. So has free healthcare. But Canada is still too much of a hassle as far as time consuming. I've never even seen a connecting flight through there.

[El Grande]

The Rolling Stones will be performing a free concert in Havana on March 25th. This is monumental and I don't want to miss this historic event. I'm searching for flights right now!

Glad they play at Ciudad Deportiva. The last few free concerts were at plaza de la revolution. That's where my casa is near by. The whole neighborhood gets screened by police at least 2 weeks in advance. Always a pain for yumas to get chics home.

[Coco Des Iles]

Concerning latest post, we invite all Americans to come to Canada and fly from most lager cities to Havana, Varardeo, Cienfuegos, Santa Clara, Camaguey, Holguin, Manazanillo, Santiago, CayoLargo. Cubana de aviacion, Air Canada, Sunwing, Air Transat and West Jet offers direct flights to these cities. Prices are very low. We never cut the bridges with Cuba, and we are proud we never did.

[Mr Gogo]

USA Airlines are looking to serve Cuba primarily from their large hub cities, with Havana being the most popular destination.

At least eight carriers submitted applications to the USA Department of Transportation Wednesday outlining what routes they would like to fly. The government will spend the next few months reviewing the requests and is expected to award the contested Havana routes this summer. Flights to smaller cities — if uncontested and lacking any contentious issues — could be approved much sooner.

Once routes are awarded, airlines will still need time to develop schedules and actually sell seats on the flights. And while the USA Government will set the routes, airlines will also need to apply to Cuba's civil aviation authority for a permit to operate in the country.

All flights operating between the two countries today are charters, but an agreement signed between the two nations last month allows for up to 110 additional flights — more than five times the current charter operations.

Only 20 of those flights can go to Havana, in addition to the current 10 to 15 charter flights a day. The rest would fly to other Cuban cities.

USA Tourists still won't legally be allowed to visit Cuba but the start of commercial flights will make it much easier for those who fall into one of the authorized travel categories. Charter flights are expensive, frequently chaotic and lack many of the traditional supports of commercial aviation such as online booking and 24-hour customer service.

Most of the planes proposed by USA Airlines would carry about 160 passengers.

Nearly 160,000 USA Leisure travelers flew to Cuba last year, along with hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans visiting family. Tourism is still barred, but the number of legal reasons to go to Cuba — from organizing professional meetings to distributing information to Cubans — has grown so large and is so loosely enforced that the distinction from tourism has blurred significantly.

American Airlines was the most-aggressive carrier in its approach, requesting more than half the possible slots to Havana plus service to five other, smaller Cuban cities. The airline has a large hub in Miami, home to the largest Cuban-American population.

In American's filing with the DOT, CEO Doug Parker wrote that his airline has been "the undisputed leader" in charter service, having done so since 1991.

The airline notes in its application that last year alone, it operated 1,084 Cuba charters while JetBlue Airways had 221 and Delta Air Lines had four.

Following Wednesday's route application deadline, airlines and the public have a chance to comment on the flights sought. That process will conclude by March 21.

The airlines won't get all of their requests, but below are the routes each carrier applied to fly:

— American is seeking 10 daily flights from Miami to Havana, one from Charlotte and one from Dallas as well as one weekly flight from both LOS Angeles and Chicago. From Miami, it is also looking for two daily flights to Santa Clara, Holguin and Varadero and daily service to Camaguey and Cienfuegos.

— Delta is seeking flights from Atlanta, New York, Miami and Orlando to Havana. All would be daily, except for Miami where Delta is seeking two daily flights.

— JetBlue is looking to serve Havana with four daily flights from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, two from Tampa, Florida, Orlando and New York and one daily flight from Boston and Newark, New Jersey. It also wants one daily flight from Fort Lauderdale to Camaguey, Holguin and Santa Clara.

— Southwest Airlines wants to fly to Havana with six daily flights from Fort Lauderdale, two from Tampa and one daily flight from Orlando. It also applied for daily flights from Fort Lauderdale to Varadero and one to Santa Clara.

— United Airlines is asking for daily flights between Newark, New Jersey, and Havana with two flights on Saturdays. It also wants Saturday-only flights from Chicago, Houston and Washington the. See.

— Alaska Airlines wants two daily flights from LOS Angeles to Havana.

— Frontier Airlines applied for one daily flight between Denver and Havana, three daily flights between Miami and Havana, one daily flight between Miami and Santiago, four weekly flights between Miami and Camaguey, three weekly flights between Miami and Santa Clara, one weekly flight between Chicago and Varadero and one weekly flight between Philadelphia and Varadero.

— Silver Airways, a Florida-based regional airline, wants to fly to Havana twice daily from West Palm Beach, once daily from Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale, five times a week from Key West, and twice a week from Jacksonville. It also proposed to fly from Fort Lauderdale to nine other Cuban cities.

[Coco Des Iles]

Even though he was born a year prior to Barry White, Mick Jagger is still alive! So time is not for nostalgia but rather to enjoy the reality of dramatic changes in Cuba these days. As a Canadian who have been traveling to the island since 1981, I applause President Obama determination to end an area.

Of disgraceful attitude towards a hard fighting, peaceful and courageous people. I applause the Rolling Stones to join the movement and to offer Cuban people a free concert.

[Non-English text deleted by Admin]

So maybe we should lease planes to go and see them and enjoy la fiesta!

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[Combo]

Let the hype begin, historic? American groups have been performing in Cuba for years from Gloria Estefan, Barry White even 50 cents but our govt never wanted us to know anything Cuba. Everything now will be sensationalized but I'm not buying in. I don't go to Cuba because an old rock and roll band finally decided to go, they should have already been there. I go to Cuba for the people and the culture.

One of my many great memories of Cuba was one night sitting on the malecon having a Cuba libre watching the ocean. There is a place where the Prada meets the malecon that has tables outside. The place was closing at 11 pm and one of the workers gave me a drink on the house and said they were closing but take my time. The workers started moving the tables inside as I sipped my Cuba libre. They put a Barry White CD in and we jammed. None of these workers could speak English but they knew every English word to Barry Whites song, it was priceless. They said that back in the days that the radio would pick up bootleg signals from Miami and their are and be soul stations. I doubt the Cubans even know or care who Mick Jagger is, but it will be hyped as an event that people will show up.

I guarantee you plenty of Cubans know who the Stones are. Barry White was hardly the only non-Cuban artist whose music "slipped through. " Hell my last visit I heard a frickn BeeGees song in an eatery en Centro Habana. Mixed in with the Timba, Reggaeton, and Son, you will hear pop music, including that from the USA.

Having said that, I agree that it's not a reason to go to Cuba. If you want to see great bands in Cuba, why not see CUBAN bands like LOS Van Van, Alexander Abreu, Maykel Blanco, etc. You can see the Stones anywhere and they haven't done anything good in over 30 years anyway.

[Mr Gogo]

The Rolling Stones will be performing a free concert in Havana on March 25th. This is monumental and I don't want to miss this historic event. I'm searching for flights right now!

Let the hype begin, historic? American groups have been performing in Cuba for years from Gloria Estefan, Barry White even 50 cents but our govt never wanted us to know anything Cuba. Everything now will be sensationalized but I'm not buying in. I don't go to Cuba because an old rock and roll band finally decided to go, they should have already been there. I go to Cuba for the people and the culture.

One of my many great memories of Cuba was one night sitting on the malecon having a Cuba libre watching the ocean. There is a place where the Prada meets the malecon that has tables outside. The place was closing at 11 pm and one of the workers gave me a drink on the house and said they were closing but take my time. The workers started moving the tables inside as I sipped my Cuba libre. They put a Barry White CD in and we jammed. None of these workers could speak English but they knew every English word to Barry Whites song, it was priceless. They said that back in the days that the radio would pick up bootleg signals from Miami and their are and be soul stations. I doubt the Cubans even know or care who Mick Jagger is, but it will be hyped as an event that people will show up.

[MrSoulo]

The Rolling Stones will be performing a free concert in Havana on March 25th. This is monumental and I don't want to miss this historic event. I'm searching for flights right now!

[Coco Des Iles]

I am leaving for Havana on Feb 29, Air Transat 148, anyone want to meet? Post here. I will be traveling all cities.

Sorry I cannot join you but I might be back in Cuba in a few weeks. Will be nice to hear from you as it looks like you will be moving around. I know Playas Del Este, Varadero and Santiago but, like in my last post on Guanabo, things are changing quite fast and I still wonder what is the best city to go to these days to have fun and be safe. I am looking at Cienfuegos, but I get mixed information on how good is that destination at the present time.

[Goldman007]

I am leaving for Havana on Feb 29, Air Transat 148, anyone want to meet? Post here. I will be traveling all cities.

[Free2]

I am planning a trip to either and I need the same help as to which one first. Travel to Cuba will be open and I want to be there but I have a Friend & Guide in Sousa, but nothing in Havana.

I Like to Hear from Anyone about Everything.

Thanks!

I cringe when I think of the 300 million Americans, including 100 million (?) horny dudes who want to see Cuba for the first time and what it is going to do to the country.

Remember guys, the rest of the world has been going there steady with no issues for decades.

Now with Obama about to throw out the rule book, each & every American man wants full info on the ins and outs of Cuba.

Fine, but how about I suggest you RTFF's, then ask intelligent questions?