American to Cuba via Europe

You should have no problems. The only Americans I have heard about who had problems transiting through Canada were those who arrived from Cuba and went directly to check in for a flight to the US. The US authorities do have permission to "pre-clear" anybody bound for the US, so they were able to quiz those passengers about where they'd been, and search their luggage for anything that might indicate that they had been to Cuba (like receipts, coins, or trinkets). Since you're arriving from and returning to Europe, this would not make you subject to search by US agents in a Canadian airport.

Why not fly directly to Cuba from a European gateway with a carrier offering direct / non-stop service?

Gotcha. Thank you very much!

davfitz: i looked at a couple different flights, and they all routed me through toronto. mayhaps i am not looking in the right places.

You might also look at fares going from wherever you are in Europe to Nassau in the Bahamas and then to Havana, as Nassau is a big destination for Europeans and the Bahamas government often subsidizes airfares to the Bahamas from Europe. From Nassau rt airfare to Havana is +/- US $300.

OP/#4

You don't say what your embarkation point in Europe is and that will make a difference. Try Virgin or Cubana from London, Air France from Paris, Iberia from Madrid etc, etc. This should not be a problem. Even if you have to connect - you should be able to get something to suit your needs in Europe.

Good luck. I'm off to London in about a half hour. Would you prefer a private consultation tomorrow? Je! Je! Je!

isn't there some kind of issue with the canadian government having agreed to turn over flight manifests for flights to cuba? (since they fly over u.s. airspace). i agree that you should fly directly from europe. no need to go from canada. there's plenty of flights from here.

OP, some packages from MAdrid are very low right now. It´s 669 euros with Halcon Viajes to fly to Havana and stay 7 nights at the Riviera Hotel (which is not bad at all and has tremendous views). Corte Ingles may actually be cheaper than that. If you tell us your embarkation point in Europe, we may be able to provide some more exact info.

That is a good price, Yorgos, and the riviera is well-located there on the Malecon in Vedado. I would think the 7 nights hotel stay would ordinarily cost you almost that much alone. That's almost like getting free airfare and you can spend the 7 days finding a Casa Particular and familiarizing yourself with The Vedado/Centro/Vieja "Malecon" end of Havana. that's where 90% of people congregate anyway.

I, too, would recommend avoiding routing through Canada and not only because of the whole "American" issues but simply because it sounds far more difficult and costly than finding your way to Madrid from wherever you currently are in Europe and heading straight to Havana from there.