Travel question of the day: Can you visit Florida and Havana on one holiday?

Have a travel question that needs answering? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Non-US citizens are permitted to fly to Havana (Getty)

This Q&A is no longer accurate following Donald Trump’s decision to outlaw “individual people-to-people travel” to Cuba. More information here

Q We are going to be in Florida next week and fancy hopping over to Havana for a couple of days, but can’t find out if British passport holders are entitled to use the flights from Miami. Are we?

Name withheld

A For the past 56 years, Washington DC has imposed tight restrictions on US citizens travelling to Cuba. The Office of Foreign Asset Controls imposed sanctuons designed to prevent tourism to the island, and the economic benefit that would flow from it.

In the past few years restrictions have been eased, and US-Cuban relations are warmer than they have been for half a century. President Trump has yet to do anything to reverse the opening up of contacts, most visible in the remarkable new range of scheduled flights between many US and Cuban cities. Yet while the latest round of rules have made life easier for Americans, they have actually made flying from the US to Cuba harder for non-Americans.

Previously all you needed to do was to demonstrate that you were not a US citizen. The rules now apply to all “persons subject to US jurisdiction", which includes anyone boarding a flight to Cuba from America.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that plenty of travellers flying from the US to the island are claiming their visit represents “Support for the Cuban people”, and are not being challenged for evidence to support that assertion. Alternatively you may be able to make a case for ticking the box marked: “Educational activities, including people-to-people exchanges open to everyone”. While it is unlikely that you will be challenged for proof, to take this course of action you will need to prepare a programme of, for example, museum visits, a homestay in a casa particular or lessons in anything from Spanish to salsa.

Flying from Cuba to the US, there are fewer hurdles - though you should keep things like museum receipts, photos of your homestay and anything else that demonstrates your cross-cultural credentials. The Cuban authorities don’t mind who’s on the flight to Miami, and when you touch down in Florida you are treated the same as all the other Latin American arrivals. Therefore the best way to organise a two-centre trip is to fly first to Havana, buy a one-way flight to Miami, and fly back from there; from London, Virgin Atlantic can offer "open-jaw" arrangements of this kind.

Every day, our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder