"do not plan to fly with Cubana again"
C Morton (United States)
✅ Trip Verified | Santiago de Cuba to Havana. My wife and I spent three weeks wandering Cuba and, overall, had a wonderful time filled with exceptional experiences... our flight with Cubana Airlines was not one of those experiences. If it were only the close to two hour delay we experienced (apparently this is a regular occurrence with Flight 205, Santiago to Habana), then I wouldn't be writing this negative review. The fact that they detained us and all their other delayed customers in a very hot, stuffy room with no air conditioning or fans... I'd be willing to let that slide. Even having to wait an extra hour at the baggage carousel for our checked bags wouldn't have inspired me... but after discovering that items had been stolen from both my bag & my wife's is when my real issue began. I personally picked up both my backpack & my wife's and carried them myself to our waiting taxi. I put them in the trunk of our taxi, where they stayed until we arrived at our destination. I was present when our driver opened his trunk & I then picked up both bags and carried them to our room, no one else touched our bags as soon as they were back in our custody and when we arrived in our room and began unpacking I we discovered items missing. All the items just so happened to be in the most easily accessed compartments of our bags. Unless our driver had someone hiding in his trunk then the theft had to have occurred while our bags were in Cubana Airline's custody. The next morning I contacted Cuba Travel Services (who we booked our tickets through) and they told me to send an email as soon as I got home, which I did. The folks at Cuba Travel Services were responsive and helpful, I believe they did all they could do, but an cannot offer any similar compliments for Cubana Airlines. After filing our theft claim we didn't hear back from Cubana Airlines for over a month at which point they explained that since I didn't file a claim at the airport in Havana, they weren't willing to do anything. I found this response unsatisfactory and absurd for a number of reasons, one being that there would be no reason for me to unpack our bags at the baggage carousel, so how could I possibly discover that we had items missing? Cubana Airlines only reached out to Cuba Travel Services, they made no effort to contact me directly, they have offered no compensation for the theft nor have they truly expressed any regret or apologies. They don't even seem concerned that they have employees handling customer's bags and stealing items while in their custody. I have almost nothing but wonderful things to say about Cuba and its people, but I have no love for Cubana AIrlines and while we plan to return to Cuba we do not plan to fly with Cubana again.
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Santiago de Cuba to Havana |
Date Flown | April 2019 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"first and last experience"
Andrew Martin (Ireland)
Not Verified | Madrid to Havana. Myself and my girlfriend had wanted to go to Cuba for some time and in 2015 we realised our dream to visit the island. We decided on flying with Cubana from Madrid to Havana and return so as to spend a couple of days in Madrid on our return journey through Madrid. I booked our flights which were scheduled for a Saturday departure from Madrid and booked our connecting flights from Dublin to Madrid with Ryanair. A few weeks before departure I received an email notifying me that the flight had changed as was now leaving Madrid on Friday. This change of plan cost me another €200 in new flights with Ryanair. Got to Madrid, checked in for our flight and after about an hours delay we were on our way on board an Ilyushin Il-96 with the smell of stale urine emanating from the toilets. Fast forward 2 weeks later and we find ourselves back at Havana airport for the 10pm flight back to Madrid. The tired old Il-96 is towed on to the stand and shortly after boarding commences. Engines are started, we push back off stand and a few minutes later return to stand. Everybody disembarks and sits in the terminal awaiting news of our flight. Very little info is forthcoming from official sources but a helpful fellow passenger explains to us what is happening. The flight is delayed then cancelled. We get a voucher for a roll but little else. We bed down for the night on uncomfortable airport seats as no hotel or accommodation is offered. Not much sleep was had and after a 14 hour delay we finally take off for Madrid arriving at around 3.30 in the morning. We were both given a form to fill in presumably to claim for compensation which I posted to the airline but I never got a reply. All in all, Cubana despite being the cheapest option to Havana ended up costing me more because of their schedule change and offered nothing in the way of compensation for the 14 hour delay on our return. That was our first and last experience with Cubana, you have been warned!
Aircraft | Ilyushin Il-96 |
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Madrid to Havana |
Date Flown | May 2018 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"never fly this company again"
G Lameen (Belgium)
✅ Trip Verified | Santiago to Havana. We would never fly this company again. We were flying from Santiago De Cuba to Havana, and that same day from Havana to Paris. The flight from Santiago De Cuba was with Cubana Airlines. This flight was delayed 2 times and it took 2 hours instead of 1:30 hours. We were never informed of why this was happening. Because of these delays we missed our other flight to Paris and had to pay a lot of money for a new ticket. We would not recommend flying with them AT ALL. Apparently they are almost always late and/or the flights are cancelled.
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Santiago to Havana |
Date Flown | September 2018 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"would never fly with them again"
Ramiro Bassi (Argentina)
✅ Trip Verified | Havana to Buenos Aires. I had no trouble with the schedule departure time. Aircraft is a Russian aircraft. Uncomfortable. No entertainment. Food was the worst I've ever seen or tasted for a premium cabin. Toilet was old, dirty. The flight attendants were ok but it doesn't make you feel you are in a premium cabin. They took the food that was left, with them. These people are hungry in their country. I would never fly with them again. Not for pleasure, not for work.
Aircraft | IL-96 |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Seat Type | Business Class |
Route | Havana to Buenos Aires |
Date Flown | September 2018 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"I would fly Cubana at any time"
Deborah Schultz (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | Toronto to Caya Coco. Flight out, on time. Staff provided a lovely breakfast sandwich with juice and dessert. Coffee/water served for free. Beer wine offered at a very modest price. Touchdown early. On return, again flight on time, arrival very early than expected - sandwich lunch again for no charge and coffee and water. With all the other airlines charging for every scrap of amenities I don’t understand what people complain about, And the washrooms did not smell! I would fly Cubana at any time.
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Toronto to Caya Coco |
Date Flown | February 2018 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | yes |
"duration of the delay was severe"
A Manter (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | Toronto to Santiago de Cuba, Jan 25th 2018 Flight 191 - departure scheduled for 12:55 - actual lift off from runway at 4am Jan 26 - apparently technical/mechanical difficulties with the aircraft that arrived, on time, to fly us there; plane eventually towed away for repairs and etc - passengers were at least issued lunch and dinner vouchers for $20 each. But the duration of the delay was severe - by the time we got to SCU, disembarked from the aircraft and got out to the luggage carousel, a number of passengers then discovered that their luggage had not arrived with the flight - details were recorded, by hand, at the airport lost & found, for each passenger but no claim forms issued, no receipts provided, no information or other assistance of any use provided; just a lot of throwing up of the arms into the air. Passengers on this flight lost a full day of their vacation as well as a hotel room night, both of which they'd already paid for and did not receive. Trying to get meaningful information on the whereabouts of the missing luggage and when it would be delivered to us at our hotel was met with mostly uninformative dismissiveness - complaints have been lodged with the tour operator and the airline. Tour operator and airline should be providing complainants with better levels of compensation than just meal vouchers after all that we have been through. On this episode, you get a 1 - will still be using the tour operator and the airline; but come on people!
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Toronto to Santiago de Cuba |
Date Flown | January 2018 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | yes |
"we were refused boarding"
Giovanni Giorgis (United Kingdom)
✅ Trip Verified | We could not book our seats together online or on the phone, so we had to go to their office in Havana, which was chaotic to say the least and the staff were rude. When we got to the airport we were in a huge queue, which snaked around the terminal. When we finally made it to the front of the queue, we were refused boarding because we did not have a print out of our ticket out of Costa Rica! There's no WIFI at Havana Airport and we could not use the data on our UK mobile phones to retrieve the details of our booked AA tickets out of Costa Rica (AA staff on the ground would not help us either). We went to see the Cubana manager in his office, and he was rude and did not care that we were stranded. We explained we were waiting for a text message from a friend with the flight info out of Costa Rica, but he did not care. They are obviously operating a scam to get people to pay twice at huge prices or free up seats they can resell. There were other people in the same terrible situation as us on the day. Once refused departure, we could not get on another Cubana flight for 4 days so we ended up having to buy an expensive ticket with a different airline to get to Costa Rica, as by then we'd received our flight details from Costa Rica. Never again! Avoid like the plague!
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Havana to San Jose, Costa Rica |
Date Flown | December 2017 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"never again fly with Cubana"
Tilo Saurin (Germany)
✅ Verified Review | Cubana Airlines is the worst airline I ever flew with. We used the airline for a domestic flight within Cuba (Havanna to Holguin). The flight was around 5,5 hours delayed, the airline communicated nothing in advance and never said sorry for the circumstances. They offered no free drinks or a snack, the information at the airport in Havanna was horrible. They only changed the departure time on the monitors. In Holguin the pilot was not able to meet to runway in the first attempt and needed a second landing. In Holguin Cubana needed 45 minutes to bring the luggage to us. My leather bag was impured with white color. Nobody at the Holguin airport, no employee of Cubana felt responsible to help me. For safety reasons I would avoid dmestic flights in Cuba. They had no print tickets and wrote our boarding pass with a pen! At the safety check they dont want to see my passport! I will never again fly with Cubana and can't recommend this company to you.
Aircraft | Antonov |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Havana to Holguin |
Date Flown | October 2017 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"our luggage was lost"
C Partane (Canada)
✅ Verified Review | Upon arrival to Cayo Largo, our luggage was lost after a direct flight from Toronto to Cayo Largo. A fiasco was about to start, nobody could help us locate our luggage, nobody knew how to contact Toronto to see if our luggage was sent on the plane, nobody understood what we were trying to ask. After the Cubana Hola Sun representative finally understood that we did not receive our luggage, and had an airport rep scribble on a piece of paper of apparently what seemed to be a lost luggage report. The Hola Sun rep insisted we get on a bus to our hotel, when we wanted to receive answers before leaving the airport on the status of where our luggage was located and how we can have access to it. Nobody wanted to make a call to Toronto. They indicated the only flight from Toronto to Cayo Largo was the 5th of August, the day we were leaving Cayo Largo, and we had no other options in regards to receiving our luggage. We left the airport after the Hola Sun rep told us she would take care of this. The next morning at our group meeting with the same Hola Sun Cubana rep, she did not recognize us and did not know we had lost our luggage. She scribbled beside our room number lost luggage. She told us again that she had no way of contacting Toronto to see where our luggage was and that she had no control in this matter. The following day we approached the rep yet again about our lost luggage and that we had nothing for the entire week in the deserted island of Cayo Largo, she said we should contact the Cubana rep at the Cayo Largo that only works after 1PM. She again did not want to call Toronto Cubana Airline for us to see if the luggage was there or not. The next day, she had no idea who we were and said she did not deal with lost luggage. Finally, day 4 of our trip, still no baggage, no sunscreen, no clothes, no snorkelling kits, no shoes, a new rep comes on duty and immediately takes charge and types a Microsoft Word document stating we lost our luggage and signs it, still no report sent to YYZ stating they lost our luggage. She then tells us she spoke to the Cayo Largo Airport rep of Cubana that will send our luggage to Cayo Largo tomorrow via Varadero. The next morning, we prepare to be ready for the arrival of the 6.45AM plane from Varadero, to finally receive our luggage. Nothing, nobody knows, no claims about lost luggage, no reports, no file #. Day 6, we go see the rep again, who states your luggage could have never sent because YYZ Cubana is on strike, sorry. Day 7, finally we leave this fiasco, on route to YYZ to see about where could our luggage be. We arrive in YYZ at 1AM, no reports about lost luggage, nobody at Baggage Claim knows what we are talking about, Cubana. He brings us into a closet, hundreds of lost luggage unorganized piled on top of each other, a dozen of strollers, bugs, humidity smell, and he says to check in there by ourselves. Desperate, we search through the piled on top of each other, nothing. The Baggage Claim in YYZ tells us to call in the morning, nobody knows and there's no claim report in their system and they refuse to file an official report for us in the system, stating only this one person can do the actual report. 2AM we drive 5 hours home hoping maybe the luggage was sent home during our time away. Nothing. 5 days of phone calls, we find the luggage.
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Toronto to Cayo Largo |
Date Flown | August 2017 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"horrible, unprofessional airline "
Christelle Chamaa (United Arab Emirates)
✅ Verified Review | Havana to Mexico City. Cubana Airlines is the most horrible, unprofessional airline I've seen in my life! We had booked a flight from Cuba to Mexico City on 23rd July at 6am, to then catch our international flight from Mexico City at 1pm. (5 hours stop, which gives enough time for any anticipated delays from Cuba) Its 6:30am and still we didn't board and no feedback when we will take off, then at 7am they announce boarding. We stood in line and there was no employee to board us and we could see that the plane had no captain or any employee inside. 20 min later an employee shouts in the airport in Spanish "gate change". We board the plane after 1.30 hours delay to find the plane so dirty and smelling. After 1 hour of flight, the captain announces there's a problem with the wing ne and we have to go back to Havana airport! We flew back to Havana, were dropped at the airport with no information on what's next and were led like sheep back into passport control. That was already 10am and obviously we had missed our international flight from Mexico to Beirut since no other plane was scheduled to depart and the flight takes 2:30hrs to Mexico city. We tried to find someone to talk to, the security guy didn't speak any English so we got the translation from another passenger, and we understood that they don't know what will happen next. We tried to look/ask for the manager and they told us he is very busy and has no time for us! We asked for him urgently because our international flight is gone and obviously we had paid a lot of money for the flight, but the employee of Cubana Airlines didn't seem to care much and told us "its not my problem" Our luggage's were given back to us and still no information on anything else Our adventure of chasing the manager lasted for 3 hours with all the excuses you can imagine "he's up in his office", "he's down somewhere", "he's very busy", "he's not answering his phone". etc.. One of the times when we were told he's in his office, we went and obviously he wasn't there, another employee of Cubana airlines was there and when we told her what's the issue, she simply stood up, left the office, locked it behind her and ignored us. After 3 hours running from one place to the other at the airport carrying all our luggage with us up and down the stairs not less than 10 times, we found at last the famous manager. My husband explained to him the situation, however his reply wasn't any better than his employees, he also advised that its not his problem. When my husband asked him at least if he will provide a plane anytime soon, his answer was "now go to the hotel and I don't have any information on when we will have another plane!" Not only did the manager have the worst communication skills, he didn't even bother to suggest a solution. Now we went looking for a flight that goes back to our home country which is impossible in a country like Cuba with no internet, no wifi, no sms, airline offices with no employees and few/no people speaking English. We ended up paying 4500USD for 2 tickets one way back home!
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Havana to Mexico City |
Date Flown | July 2017 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |