We Are About To Begin Commercial Flights To Cuba. But American Tourism In Cuba Is Still Illegal.

Confused? Us too. Here's an explainer:

This week, six major airlines received permission from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin commercial flights from the U.S. to Cuba.

American Airlines

The DOT approved licenses for American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines to begin flying to Cuba from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Philadelphia and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Thus far, licenses awarded have been to Cuban cities outside of Havana, including Cienfuegos, Santa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey, Matanzas, Holguín, Cayo Coco and Cayo Largo.

The coveted Havana slots have yet to be awarded by the DOT. They should be out by the end of this summer.

But I thought there were already flights to Cuba?

Pitchfork

There were already flights to Cuba -- mostly from Miami, a handful from DC and New York -- but they were chartered flights, and that's the key word. The are expensive, tickets are few, and customers are unable to simply go on an airline's website (or Orbitz or Kayak) and buy a ticket on a Havana-bound plane. Third parties (and third party fees) are required.

ABC Charters, for example, runs 16 flights per week from Miami. For reference, about 1,100 flights go in and out of Miami-Dade airport every day. So 16 per week is not a whole lot -- and the majority of passengers are Cuban-Americans visiting family.

Commercial flights are a whole new ball game.

So, why is American tourism in Cuba still illegal?

Altair Magazine

Two words: The Embargo. Codified in the 1960s by President John F. Kennedy, the Cuban Embargo effectively banned all trade and travel by Americans to Cuba. The Obama Administration has loosened restrictions on licensing to travel to Cuba and raised the legal amount of remittances Americans can send to their families on the island -- but the main restrictions still stand, due to inaction in Congress.

At this point, Americans are allowed to go under 12 specific licenses, which include stuff like education, journalism, religious and humanitarian projects, business, and "people-to-people" exchanges, (*cough* tourism).

Under people-to people-exchanges, the US government (specifically OFAC) requires Americans to have a complete itinerary of outings, visits, and activities they do in Cuba. Americans are by law required to stay in hotels, as opposed to Cuban casa particulares -- Airbnbs. As a result, American "traveler" money is currently not distributed to many individually-owned private businesses. Instead, much of it goes to state-run enterprises due to the U.S. requirements of the official itineraries.

Oh yea, and the affidavit:

Copa Airlines

This is the affidavit Americans must sign before purchasing a plane ticket to Cuba. It tells the federal government why you are going to Cuba and what exactly you plan on doing there.

Here's the beginning: "I understand that travel transactions related to Cuba must be directly incident to one of the self-authorizing general license purposeful travel categories or travel authorized under the auspice of a specific license granted on a case-by-case basis. Under current US travel restrictions with respect to Cuba, travel-related transactions are prohibited except for the following categories & that by signing my name at the bottom of this Affidavit, I declare that I fall under the category I have checked below."

You must keep your itinerary and this signed affidavit on file for five years after you go -- as you may be subject to a federal audit regarding your trip to Cuba.

Is it Cuba's fault that American tourism is still illegal?

The New York Times

No. It's in the hands United States Congress. Currently, there are a few bills pending in Congress regarding the Cuban embargo -- you can read up on them here.

But what about the American cruise ship that went to Cuba -- were there American tourists on that?

NY Post

Nope. It was a running joke in Cuba that it was so remarkable that "finally, an American cruise ship has arrived in Cuba, sin siquiera un solo turista" -- without a single tourist.

Carnival Cruise's Adonia docked at the port of Havana last month -- but it must be assumed that it was carrying a boat full of humanitarian volunteers, religious groups, people on people-to-people tours, etc. Definitely no American tourists. Cause that's illegal.

So, what's going to happen?

Everything is in the hands of Congress now. This week, there is a chance that an amendment related to American travel to Cuba could be inserted into one of the various appropriations bills (the bills that decide how the federal government spends its money).

So far, 52 out of 100 senators explicitly support ending the prohibition on American travel to Cuba. So, for the first time, there is a chance that something could eek through.

In the meantime, give your Senator a call. Tell her you want to go to Cuba.