Review of American Airlines flight Havana → Miami in Business

intro

Following a special weekend in Cuba, it was time to head back to Los Angeles. While we will get into how I booked this ticket next, this routing was a lot of fun, especially for the price I paid. Here a couple of pictures of Cuba!

The first leg would take me on a short 48-minute hop from Havana to Miami. This was an extremely pleasant flight, with 0 faults anywhere from American Airlines. 

routing

how i booked

I was sitting on a lot of trip credit with American Airlines. With one-stop flights from Havana to Los Angeles upwards of 900$ in business class with recliner seats, I found a fare that consisted of a 737 to Miami, 772 to JFK, and the A321T to LAX all for 477$ in business class/domestic First. As someone who loves flying this is an unbelievable deal, if I had booked all three tickets separately it would have come out to 2300$. 

check in

After a fabulous stay at the Casa Particular, a taxi was waiting for me to drive to the airport. The cost of the taxi was 30 USD. 

Upon arriving at the airport, I headed over to the business class counter to check-in. However, because I wanted to change my flight, and since Cuba is a tad complicated the agent instructed me to go over to a desk. 

Once I got to the desk there was a very helpful man who switched me onto the 10:30 am up to Miami. While I technically had time for the 9:20 am (no one has faith in how fast I can get through security), this allowed me to do some planespotting, which was well worth it. 

Soon enough, I had a printed boarding pass and made my way to immigration.

Immigration was inefficient. However, a word of advice when traveling out of Havana: leave ample time to go through security. For 7 flights (including one to Istanbul through Caracas) all departing within 3 hours, they had 1 checkpoint open. If you don't know by now I am somehow blessed when traveling, as they opened a second one when I was right next to it?. 

havana airport

While you are at Havana airport, you only get 30 minutes of free wifi. This means even if you have to be here early, bring something to pass the time. I strolled around a bit and saw the TK 789 heading to Caracas (A place I want to go but is challenging).

A Wingo 737 was getting ready to depart down south. A frustrating airline as I tried to book them but they wouldn't let me.

Interestingly, there were signs of TAG (Angola) but from what I can find they don't fly to Havana, I'm confused.

The last plane I managed to spot was the Plus Ultra.

The 9:20 am flight was leaving late, and while there was space, you have to leave the terminal and go back to the desk to change your flight (only in Cuba).

With about 45 minutes to kill until boarding, I took a seat at the cafe (all of them have the same kitchen). The only item that one could order was the ham and cheese panini, so I ordered that with a coffee. Both were surprisingly amazing!

Checking FlightAware, I could see that the inbound was already on initial descent, ahead of schedule. I was hopeful for an on time departure. 

boarding

Boarding was scheduled for 9:45, a whole 45 minutes before departure. I queued up at 9:45 where I spotted this gem…

People needing assistance were asked to board at 9:50 am, and a few minutes later Business Class boarded. No they don't scan your boarding pass, they just rip the large portion off here.

I was the second one from First Class on board (behind a Platinum Pro). The jetbridges are beautiful and I was ready to be back in the States, where I can use my Credit Card.

A trustworthy touch of the plane and…

I came across the American Airlines Business Class product on the 737-800. 

the seat

Seats are arranged in a 2-2 configuration on the 737-800. Each one features an adjustable headrest that helps with napping.

I settled into 3F, the second last row on the starboard side of the aircraft. When departing Cuba, I recommend the starboard side (on the inbound Port).

Each seat features the classic device holder, the same in economy which I flew down from Los Angeles on the inbound. 

Each seat feature a USB port which works, but since I had my portable, I didn't use it. 

I am a little bit unsure of what the thingy is in the middle of the seats, perhaps the life vests?

Lastly, there was a little button on the left-hand side of the seat, which allowed me to recline. I rarely ever recline on a flight as I feel bad for the people behind, I suppose it's a little better in Premium Economy, but still.

departure

Boarding was completed by 10:12 am and a few minutes later the captain came on to announce our estimated flight time of 45 minutes at a cruising altitude of 21,000 feet. 

The boarding doors closed at 10:16 am and 3 minutes later we pushed back (11 minutes ahead of schedule). If pre-departure beverages are your thing, they weren't offered on todays flight and don't think they are on the Havana-Miami route. 

The Havana terminal is very pretty. 

We headed out on the taxiway to the west, in order to depart East. We first passed the A340-300 of Plus Ultra (I think it's the 300 right?).

Following the Plus Ultra A340, we continued onwards past the retired and active Cubana aircraft. 

Then we saw the gray livery!! Seriously, I might come back to Havana just to take some pictures of the airplanes here, it's like a museum for AV geeks!

There was a guy near the runway, unsure as to why. Possibly for security reasons? 

After a 10 minute taxi, we entered the runway. 

Enter text here…We were airborne promptly at 10:29 am, 1 minute before our scheduled pushback time. Some gorgeous views out of Havana on this fine morning!

the flight

The most special part of any Caribbean flight is seeing the crystal blue water. About 10 minutes after takeoff, we saw the turquoise waters off the coast of Cuba.

At 10:40 am the FA came over to take drinks orders. I opted for a glass of sparkling wine, probably should have waited for the Piper Heidsick in the lounge but that's life! While there was only a drinks service on the flight, there were tables that came out from the armrest closest to the window. 

My sparkling wine came out at 10:42 am, only 2 minutes after the FA took my order. I enjoyed that it was served in glassware.

 A minute later the captain came on to announce our initial descent into Miami, mentioning we would be landing in 30 minutes. Golly gosh, this is a short flight!

arrival

We had a bumpy approach into Miami this morning with a low cloud coverage meaning plenty of rough air. 

We touched down much ahead of schedule at 11:10 am local time (same time zone for both cities). 

We had a short taxi, around some planes, I have been dying to fly such as this beauty…

And this airline (Surinam Airways), which I have never seen a report on?.

After a taxi of 4 minutes, we arrived at our gate, E4, at 11:14 am. This meant we got in 26 minutes early. Is this American Airlines, or perhaps an imposter is in the presence?

The people were quite slow deplaning in front of me, but I rushed to passport control to try and beat all of the incoming flights. 

One of the passport locations was closed. This worried me as I got closer since I saw many people around immigration. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, Mobile Passport has saved my life time and time again. Once again, I waited in line for a grand total of 1 minute and 40 seconds before the officer called me up to the desk.

So what did he ask me upon returning from Cuba? The answer was only "Where are you coming from today"??

Now it's time to head off to the Flagship Lounge! Stay tuned for a review of the best AA business class lounge in the US soon!

If you are American and looking to know what it's like to visit Cuba with an American passport, you can check it out here.