Earlier today the first flight from the U.S. West Coast took off for Cuba. Alaska Airlines flight 286 took off from Sea-Tac airport headed for Los Angeles, from where it is making the inaugural flight to Havana. Among the VIPs on board is the flight is Cuban-born University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce. Commercial passengers are joining the delegation of VIPs in Los Angeles, some of whom have not visited Cuba for many, many years (source).
Alaska Airlines is one of several U.S. carriers that was granted approval from the DOT to begin service to Cuba. They offer the only West Coast option to the island, with daily nonstop service between Los Angeles and Havana. On other carriers, most departures are from Florida, but service is also offered from New York, Chicago, Houston, Charlotte, and Atlanta.
Inaugural flights are often a big deal. There are typically celebrations at the gate and on board, and they can be quite fun, especially if you are an aviation geek. The tweet above shows the celebration at the gate at LAX. I’ve never taken an inaugural flight, but I am definitely quite interested in the idea. I’ll see if I can manage that feat fairly soon.
If you’re interested in flying to Cuba, make sure you understand the travel requirements before you make plans. Alaska Airlines has everything you need to know here. Trips strictly for tourism are still prohibited, so make sure your purpose for visiting the Caribbean Island nation is among those on the list.
This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Recent Comments