U.S. travelers last week were, for the first time, able to book direct flights from the U.S. to Cuba using an online travel agency (OTA).
CheapAir.com became the first and only OTA to offer direct charters between the U.S. and Cuba, with roundtrip flights available from Miami, New York and Tampa to six cities in Cuba.
In February, CheapAir made headlines when it became the first OTA to offer flights between Cuba and the U.S. on regularly scheduled airlines, but those flights included a connection in a foreign country, and Havana was the only available destination.
Through a partnership with Cuba Travel Services, which will be listed as the airline on the booking and which arranges charter flights operated by Sun Country or American Airlines, CheapAir is offering daily flights between Miami and Cuba; flights that depart and arrive on Tuesdays between New York Kennedy and Havana; and flights that operate on Sundays and Thursdays between Tampa and Havana.
From Miami, a typical flight would be just under $500 roundtrip with taxes and mandatory medical insurance. From New York, it would be about $800.
"It's a better way to get there," said Jeff Klee, CEO of CheapAir, comparing direct charter flights with ones that go through a third country. "It's a stronger offering for those who want to go and are allowed to go to Cuba."
Because these Cuba charters are not in the GDS, Klee said CheapAir had to build a separate interface to access the inventory and pass on manifest information to Cuba Travel Services. But as far as the customer's search-and-buy experience, it will be the same as for all other flights.
The rules and restrictions for buying flights to Cuba are the same as for any American going to Cuba. U.S. residents can only travel there for one of 12 approved reasons, including professional, educational, religious and humanitarian purposes. An American booking a flight to Cuba on CheapAir has to check a box indicating that the purpose of the trip falls under one of those categories.
"This doesn't change any of that," Klee said. "It just makes travel to Cuba a little easier, especially because you can fly nonstop."
Klee said that reaction to CheapAir's February launch of flights to Cuba through a third country produced a large number of searches, and continues to, but the conversion rate has been much lower than with other destinations. He said he hoped that this easier and more convenient way to fly to Cuba will translate into more sales.
"A lot of people drop out during the search process," Klee said. "We don't sell that many tickets, but we're encouraged enough to pursue this next step. … There are a lot of people intrigued by the idea of going to Cuba but just aren't quite there yet."
Klee likes CheapAir's early positioning in the Cuba air market, but acknowledged that it isn't likely to last long.
"We like this market and want to do what we can to take advantage of it," Klee said. "A year from now, none of this will be a big deal. I suspect there will be scheduled, direct service on major U.S. airlines, and Cuba will be in the GDS. The way you fly to Cuba now is very different than the way you will in 2016."