Airlines

I have had good success in using miles with aa (if you book early enough) It is a bargain to also go in November for only 40,000 miles vs. 60,000 miles in December on AA and I already have booked my trip to go in November.

I am returning to BA in early Septmber and have heard of a flight direct from BA to Merlo / Possibly Merlot, thus for me bypassing Cordoba. Does anyone know what airline operates this flight as my UK travel agent is unable to track anything down. Any help appreciated.

I am thinking of visiting Cuba via Argentina. Does any Anerican have traveled from BsAs to Havana?

Thanks a lot!

Strad

[QUOTE=Strad]I am thinking of visiting Cuba via Argentina. Does any Anerican have traveled from BsAs to Havana?

Thanks a lot!

Strad[/QUOTE]Strad,

I went to Cuba via the Bahamas, but that was back in 1998. Things have changed alot since then, both in Cuba, and the states. The Feds are scrutinizing the situation vis a vis travel to Cuba alot closer. You do not want your american passport stamped in Cuba, unless you are sponsored by some organization that has a waiver. AND, those organizations are harder to find, as the Bush administration has cracked down on sponsored travel. If you would like further info pm me.

Dog

Strad,

The best way to go from BA is on Copa Airlines (short connection in Panama). This is a daily flight, even Maradona flew to it to rehab. There is also a nonstop on Cubana Air on Fridays and Sundays. Dealing with Cubana seems a real pain in the ass (called them a few times, what a surprise).

Going by memory of statistics from about 1.5 years ago when I almost went, about 50,000 Americans visit Cuba illegally per year and about 500/year get nailed (1%). In every case I found, the "offender" received a bill for $7,500 in the mail from OFAC and got it immediately reduced to about $700. They then just paid the fine though they probably could have reduced it to zero if they felt like fighting. I think the max that OFAC can hit you with is $60k per the embargo violation code but I didn't see any cases like it.

Most Americans going to Cuba travel thru one of the 3 convenient gateways from USA - Toronto, Cancun, and Jamaica. It's not so hard to have the Cuban customs not stamp your passport. However, upon arriving back to USA, explaining your recent double Cancun exit/entry stamps to a suspicious US agent can be difficult. That's how people often get nailed. You're also usually required to list countries visited during your trip upon entering USA. Or the customs agent can simply ask you if he wishes. But if you're making a complete roundtrip to Cuba from BA, I would think your chance of getting nailed must be akin to your chance of being struck by lightning.

Check out the Cuba section of the InternationalSexGuide. Lots of info there.

[QUOTE=Jaimito Cartero]I always evaluate whether to use a reward or not by a simple rule of thumb. How many miles does it cost? Multiply by 2 cents each. So if it's 50,000 miles for a coach reward, that's a basic $1000 value. Say the flight is 10,000 miles round trip, if you're elite, you'll get a bonus as well, possibly to as much as 22,500 miles with base mileage. Those miles by themselves are worth up to $450, plus going towards your elite status. [/QUOTE]Id say that 1 cent is a better figure. True, a RT flight from USA to BA usually costs around $1,000 or 50,000 miles. But the fare would have to be under $500 for me to buy it instead of using miles. Miles expire, are harder to use, and can become worthless if the carrier goes bankrupt (they do). Miles - use 'em if you got 'em (assuming there are mileage seats available, often there arent). Sort of like tax loss carryforwards.

I have heard in many cases that Cuba Customs won't stemp on our passports, however, just like Moore said,

[QUOTE]upon arriving back to USA, explaining your recent double exit / entry stamps to a suspicious US agent can be difficult.[/QUOTE]Man! It is really a risk business, Sigh!

Strad

[QUOTE=Hefe]I have had good success in using miles with aa (if you book early enough) It is a bargain to also go in November for only 40,000 miles vs. 60,000 miles in December on AA and I already have booked my trip to go in November.[/QUOTE]I was about to book my July BA trip with requirement 60,000 AA miles when I found out I can fly in mid Aug. For 40,000 air miles! I was told by an AA agent should I for some reason canceled the trip, I still can use the miles within a year no penalty. If I really can't fly within a year, the miles can be transfered back to my AA memeber account for $100 dollars.

Anyway, my next trip to BsAs will be paying only taxs, 80 bucks, cool huh?

Thats part of the point Strad. Even going to Cuba from the USA via Cancun / Toronto / Jamaica, chances are very slim that you'll be caught and even if you are you're probably talking a $700 speeding ticket.

Agents watch these flights because they are very common Cuba routes for Americans.

But if you take a one week RT journey to Havana from BA now and then go back to USA 3 months later, theyre most likely not going to be "suspecting" that you were in Cuba.

Supposedly OFAC can check flight passenger lists. I doubt they check flights from BA-Havana. Miami-BA-Havana is not exactly the shortest distance between 2 points.

I am Canadian so I do not have the same issue with travelling to Cuba. My visa was on a separate piece of paper, no stamp in my passport. I was hoping for a stamp as I was trying to fill my passport before expiry. Go pretty close. The Cuban customs were a real hassle. It took forever to get our bags - I am sure that they were inspected for contraband capitalist literature Adam Smith "The Wealth of Nations" etc.

Once there it was really depressing, Havana looked worse than Beirut did 10 years ago. The people are really friendly, but you really have to speak fluent Spanish. I regularly work in Spanish and sitll found that the accent was very different.

As for hobbying, I was on business so I was being watched. One day I was on a bus going along the Rambla, a friendly guy in a suit sat next to me. Looking out the window at the sea, I saw a chica at the side of the road. The suit told me that I was really missing something on the other side of the bus - a very important government building. Ok. A minute later, another chica, another diversion. I got off the bus and lost him but I have no doubt that there was another. All in all it was not worth it, so I took a few photographs and went back to work.

[QUOTE=Strad]I have heard in many cases that Cuba Customs won't stemp on our passports, however, just like Moore said,

Man! It is really a risk business, Sigh!

Strad[/QUOTE]Strad,

When I went through the Bahamas in 1998, I worked the trip through a travel agency in Nassau that was in cahoots with a travel agency in Cuba. Obviously immigration had to be on board in both countries as well. My passport was not stamped in Cuba, or in Nassau once again upon my return. So, as I told US customs upon my return, Atlantis was very nice. Back then folks got busted for bringing back cigars, rum and the like, but no major hassles. If I were to go back to Cuba, I would look for a similar arrangement. I have been out of that loop for awhile though. As Moore pointed out, your best bet IMHO is to dig into the International Sex Forum. There are some very hot chicas there. Good luck.

[QUOTE=Moore]Id say that 1 cent is a better figure. True, a RT flight from USA to BA usually costs around $1,000 or 50,000 miles. But the fare would have to be under $500 for me to buy it instead of using miles. Miles expire, are harder to use, and can become worthless if the carrier goes bankrupt (they do) Miles - use 'em if you got 'em (assuming there are mileage seats available, often there arent) Sort of like tax loss carryforwards.[/QUOTE]Well value is of course dependent on what you use them for. The chance of the miles becoming worthless on a major US carrier is quite small. For major US airlines that have gone out of business, I can't think of one in 20 years that didn't have another airline come in and buy assets, and honor the frequent flyer plans. TWA and PanAm are prime examples.

If you don't have the knowledge or patience to study the frequent flyer program, then you may never even be able to redeem anything. I earn 300-400k miles per year, and usually when I have a ticket in mind, I'll ticket it when I reach that threshold. It's rare that miles become more valuable, so I do agree to use them and not store millions for a rainy day.

I generally redeem high value tickets. Either business class, round the world, or just plain expensive tickets. Given your one cent rule, perhaps you can tell me of an around the world trip in business class, with no change penalties, fully refundable before the first leg, 6 continent travel, one year validity, with no mileage limitations that I can buy for $2200?

If you redeem tickets from Dallas to Las Vegas, for 20k or 25k miles, then you're just pissing them away. However, to use them on a flight you need, at a good "price", then sure.

If you guys really want to get technical on the value of frequent flier miles, how to accumulate them, when the best time to use them, how to upgrade etc. You might want to head over to Flyertalk. There is a bunch of guys beating this topic as much as you guys discuss pussy.

Here is the link for American Airlines AAdvantage but there is a drop down menu at the bottom of the page to switch to any other airline.

[url]http://www.fliertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=445[/url]

Hope that helps.

Penguin.

Hey all,

I'm relatively new in this site even though I've been passively shadowing everyones post here. I'm basically new in this hobby and have a lot of catching up to all of you experience mongers outhere lol:)

Not beating around the bush, has anyone travelled extensively in South America? I'm taking a corporate 1month break from work to have some "fun" in BA by August 2006.

I'm thinking about doing the Machu Pichu first and then flying to B.A- I'm quite shocked that there's no European charter flights version like EAsyjet / Ryan Air in S. America.

So if you have any ideas of charter planes / flights from Lima to B.A or B.A to Rio de Janeiro. Please PM me and I would appreciate your input on this.

Gracias

[QUOTE=Jkcm25]Hey all,

I'm relatively new in this site even though I've been passively shadowing everyones post here. I'm basically new in this hobby and have a lot of catching up to all of you experience mongers outhere lol:)

Not beating around the bush, has anyone travelled extensively in South America? I'm taking a corporate 1month break from work to have some "fun" in BA by August 2006.

I'm thinking about doing the Machu Pichu first and then flying to be. A- I'm quite shocked that there's no European charter flights version like EAsyjet / Ryan Air in S. America.

So if you have any ideas of charter planes / flights from Lima to be. A or be. A to Rio de Janeiro. Please PM me and I would appreciate your input on this.

Gracias[/QUOTE]I think Gol ([url]http://www.voegol.com.br/[/url]) is the only big low cost carrier in South America and they are focused on Brazil. But they do fly to BA.