Budgeting for a Trip to Cuba (and Why We’re Going)

Pin

After planning the surprise Florida trip for our anniversary, I was eager to dig into planning another trip for the two of us. I wanted to take advantage of my Southwest Companion Pass, so I looked through all of the destinations with Mike. I told him that in addition, to all of the US destinations, Southwest also flies to Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and several small Caribbean islands.

Wait, Cuba!? Really?

We have always wanted to go to Cuba, especially Mike, who studied Cuba extensively for his undergraduate degree in Latin American Studies and also loved and served the Cuban people as a missionary in Miami over two decades ago.

Is traveling to Cuba… allowed?

We did our research here. In the past it hasn’t been so easy, but since 2016 it hasn’t been that difficult. Currently there are 12 reasons that our government allows US citizens to visit Cuba. Among those is “Support for the Cuban People,” which is the reason we are going!

Of course we will also enjoy the culture, history, music, food, people, and natural beauty of the extensive Caribbean island nation.

How will we “support the Cuban people?”  In addition to staying in privately owned Airbnbs, eating at small privately run restaurants, hiring individuals to drive us and show us around, and work with our church congregations there, we are planning to bring 250 pounds of much-needed medical, hygiene, and school supplies to give away.

Budgeting for a Trip to Cuba

I always start my trip planning by making a well-thought-out and researched budget. I love budgeting for our trips because it allows me to relax and enjoy our trips rather than worry about how much we are spending. Since we budget and save for our trips ahead of time we don’t have to worry about trip bills or debt waiting for us when we return.

Doing good research makes our budget really reliable. Instead of saving up a random sum of money that we hope will be sufficient, I have a very good idea of the cost of everything and factor in some wiggle room. When we took our three older kids to Guatemala last year, we had only an $11 difference between our actual and anticipated costs!

I really enjoy the research that goes into planning the logistics of trips like this. I joined a very active Cuba travel Facebook group to help me with my planning research. I never posted a single thing, just lurked and read the messages and comments. It was super helpful, not just for making our budget, but for a general understanding of all aspects of travel to Cuba. Even if you’re a seasoned traveler, there are some  things about Cuba that make it quite unique.

I divide our budget up into the categories you’ll see below and put numbers in each category. I try to do most of this before I spend any money so that I can get an overall picture of how much the trip will cost.

Flights- $315

The flights were the easiest part of planning since that was what started the trip. For domestic flights, the companion pass covers the entire cost of the companion’s ticket except $11 for the 9/11 security fee.  For international flights there are additional costs that can’t be waived with the companion pass. For Cuba that includes customs and immigration fees, Cuba airport fee, and Cuba health insurance (required for all international visitors). The additional fees for the companion pass add up to $80.

We had a $300 Southwest travel voucher from when our luggage arrived late after some travel complications on the way home from our Miami trip in the Spring.

My flight: $535- $300 voucher = $235

Mike’s flight (companion pass):  $80

Without the companion pass and the travel voucher, our airfare would have cost $1,070, so we had some great savings here.

Experiences- $400

One of the ways that we will support the Cuban people is by tourism that benefits individuals (as opposed to the Cuban government). Through Airbnb I found a couple of experiences that we are excited about: one in Viñales and one in Varadero. They are both day trips that include transportation. We plan on staying longer in those two places, so we will cover our own transportation back to Havana.

In addition to the two Airbnb experiences that we booked ahead of time, I added in the estimated cost of some other things that we were interested in doing like museums and tours.

Pin

Accommodations $244

We will be in Cuba a total of 11 nights. The cost of accommodations in Cuba has a huge range. As Americans, hotels are off limits because they are all owned and run by the Cuban government, and the U.S embargo prohibits supporting most government-owned enterprises. We prefer to stay in Airbnbs anyway because we appreciate a more intimate, authentic experience.  We chose a place in Havana that is very well-located as our home base and costs just $19 per night. At this price, we were fine with a little bit of double-booking in case we change our minds or want to leave luggage in Havana when we go on our excursions. Our Airbnb in Varadero, a touristy area, is about $40 per night. We found a beautiful Airbnb outside of Viñales for around $24 per night.

In-Country Travel- $217

To minimize our need for in-country transportation, I chose an Airbnb with a convenient location. Mike and I are fast walkers who can pretty much walk forever, so we don’t mind using our feet to get us to lots of places. Of course that’s also not always practical or a good use of time, so we know that we will also be paying for transportation.

Havana will be our home base and from there we will travel to Viñales and to Varadero. Our transportation to those cities will be included in the cost of the excursion. We will stay for two or three days in each place, then we will take the Viazul bus back to Havana. I ordered tickets for the bus online well in advance.

To budget for our in-country transportation costs, I always start by making a list of the times I know that we will need transportation. Then, I estimate a cost for each based on my online research.

• Taxi from the airport to Havana Airbnb: $30
• Taxi from Havana to Cotorro: $25
• Taxi from Cotorro to Havana: $25
• Bus from Varadero to Havana: $30
• Bus from Vinales to Havana: $32
• Other smaller taxi rides: $50
• Taxi to airport when we leave: $25

Food- $620

Food is the biggest wild card for budgeting. In order to save money when we travel, we often buy groceries and prepare our own food rather than eat out. We know that things will be different in Cuba. In our efforts to support the Cuban people, we want to put money in the pockets of individuals. That means buying food at small, privately owned restaurants. Plus, Cuba doesn’t have grocery stores like we do in the US, where you can go to one place and buy all sorts of different food. We will primarily be relying on prepared food from restaurants and Airbnb hosts.

In order to set a budget for food, I estimated costs per person (based on my research) of $5 for breakfast, $7 for lunch, and $15 for dinner, multiplied by two people and 10 days. I expect that this estimate is on the high side. Additionally, we are pretty low maintenance and can easily go without breakfast or lunch when we are busy doing other things. I added in $80 for two days of travel food (eating in airports) for our journey to and from Cuba (each day of travel is 12-15 hours). I doubt we will actually spend this because we are both too frugal and too stubborn to pay crazy airport prices for food, but I would rather budget for it and not use it than the other way around. We’ll also bring some snacks like granola bars and freeze dried food from home.

In the first iteration of my Cuba budget, I had a line item for buying bottled water, estimating $5 per person per day, but then I had the idea to buy this backpacking water filter for each of us so that we wouldn’t need to buy bottled water at all.

Pin

Tips/Giving/Souvenirs- $400

In addition to all of the physical donations that we are bringing, we want to budget money for tips and monetary donations. I’m kind of doubtful that there will be any souvenirs that we will want to buy, but I’ll add it here anyway so you know that I didn’t just forget about souvenirs. (Normally we do like to bring our kids home something small).

Other Expenses- $552

Thinking through the miscellaneous travel-related expenses is important because they can add up quickly.

Cuba Visas: $50

Getting a Visa for Cuba is easy and is done online for $25 per person.

Travel Insurance: $100

Mike doesn’t really think travel insurance is necessary because our own health insurance should cover us even when we’re traveling, but it gives me peace of mind, so for me it’s worth it for that.

Extra Luggage: $90

With my Southwest credit card, everyone on my reservation gets one checked bag free. We want to bring the maximum amount of donations, so we will each pay for an additional bag at $45 each.

Airport Parking: $132

We will be leaving a car at the airport in Sacramento for $11 per day for 12 days.

Supplies: $175

In addition to our water filters, we ordered a few things specifically for our Cuba trip. We got two single mosquito nets and a double mosquito net, not knowing which set-up would work best in each of the Airbnbs. There is an outbreak of several mosquito-borne illnesses especially chikungunya and dengue, so we want to be prepared. We also got mosquito repellent. Blackouts are normal in Cuba so we want to be prepared with flashlights and lanterns.  (These can be charged by either by plug or solar). We will plan to leave these with people when we leave, but use them while we’re in Cuba. Also for the power outages, we ordered a second power bank portable charger so that we each have one to charge our phones with when the power is out.

Total Estimated Cost for 11 Days in Cuba

Our estimated total for our trip to Cuba is $2,748. That includes some major savings on airfare. I’m excited to see how everything else works out.

As always, I will do a post-trip budget update with a complete cost breakdown of our actual trip spending so we can compare it to our budget. I love to see how our actual spending compares with what we budgeted.

UPDATE: Here’s the Complete Cost Breakdown for our 10-day Trip to Cuba!

What do you think?

Am I missing anything?

Have you been to Cuba? What ideas do you have?

Pin