The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission.
Flight deal of the week: UK to Cuba from £315
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Every week, Jack Sheldon from Jack’s Flight Club selects a flight deal from the UK for Independent readers that you can’t afford to miss. This week: Cuba for Christmas from £350 – and how to knock that price down even lower.
KLM is currently offering an incredible opportunity to visit Cuba this autumn or winter, with options and dates over Christmas for under £400 return from a dozen airports all over the UK. Cuba's dry season begins at the end of November, so it's a rare price during peak season – as well as covering always-pricey Christmas travel dates. Typical high-season fares to Havana will run you at least twice this price – think £650-£850 over the Christmas holidays!
How to book
Either directly with the airline, which will be slightly more expensive but removes the middle-man, or with an OTA (Online Travel Agent), which will often offer lower fares, but less flexibility in terms of date changes and cancellations. I recommend Momondo when searching for an OTA. Here are some of the return fares we were able to find from each city:
Birmingham (BHX) - £350
Southampton (SOU) - £350
London (LHR) - £362
London City (LCY) - £378
Edinburgh (EDI) - £378
Glasgow (GLA) - £378
Leeds (LBA) - £389
Manchester (MAN) - £348
Newcastle (NCL) - £382
Norwich (NWI) - £427
Aberdeen (ABZ) - £418
Bristol (BRS) - £417
Cardiff (CWL) - £419
When to fly
Availability is scattered throughout autumn and early winter, so I recommend using the Google Flights calendar tool, which will help you locate the best dates. For Christmas-time fares, I recommend setting your departure date between Dec 11-15th and return dates between Dec 26-28th.
When to book
With cheap fares, there is never a guarantee how long this will last, but I think KLM may keep these fares low for 2-3 more days.
Pro tips
KLM is a phenomenal option to fly with from the UK as it covers not only major airports, but also smaller ones, making regional departures very easy.
Many international airlines such as Hawaiian Airlines and Singapore Airlines try to drive tourism to their base by offering free extended stopovers for anyone flying through their home country/state. KLM's pricing system takes it one step further by often pricing fares even lower for any Brits wanting to get a day or two in Amsterdam on the way to a long-haul destination. If flying with KLM through Amsterdam, don't hesitate to change your itinerary to a 'multi-city' trip and you will often see fares drop even lower. In this particular case, you can fly from Birmingham on 13 December, spend a couple of days in Amsterdam and catch a direct flight to Cuba on the 15th, with a simple single-stop return after Christmas on the 27th, all for £315. That's an incredible price for a full-service airline.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments