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Book Bag
Writers we love: Jan Morris
This Welsh writer creates masterful, idiosyncratic illuminations of the world
By Don George
[08/18/99]

Out of the Blue
The passenger from hell
When a man goes berserk on board, what can a flight attendant do?
By Elliott Neal Hester
[08/17/99]

Malaria dreams
I was invincible in Africa -- until the mosquitoes got me.
By Tanya Shaffer
[08/14/99]

Wanderlust
After Ed
With some help from Bali, I learned how to let go again.
By Kiersten Aschauer
[08/13/99]

Travel Advisor
On location
Our expert steers you toward those famous movie settings you've always wanted to see, plus offers the lowdown on travel insurance, accessibility information and that elusive Dutch B&B.
By Donald D. Groff
[08/12/99]

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Editor's Note:Donald D. Groff welcomes questions of general and not-so-general interest. Send questions and comments to TravelAdvisor. A selection of them will be answered each week in this space. He cannot reply personally.

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By Donald D. Groff

August 19, 1999 | I'm a U.S. citizen who has traveled to Cuba twice (each time through a third country). At the end of both trips I admitted this at Customs because I feel there's no reason why I shouldn't go wherever I want to go! I got hassled by U.S. Customs and later by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. I may be going again soon. I'd very much appreciate any comments or suggestions you might have for me. I haven't found any new tactical information on the Internet. Also, any word on something called "rebuttable presumption?"

I admire your spirit, but this is a case where you should let common sense prevail as the better part of valor. Returning from Cuba with a chip on your shoulder at Customs isn't going to alter the long-standing trade embargo policies that an increasing number of Americans are ignoring to visit the island via third countries. If you want to effect change, better you should be talking up what you've seen there and support efforts to exert political pressure. Customs officers generally don't have a political agenda. They're just doing their sometimes monotonous jobs. Yes, you'll brighten their day if you make a quirky declaration of principle, giving them something to talk about at the pub. But as a political statement it's not going to go far.

While there isn't much evidence of the U.S. government coming down hard on citizens who have traveled there, I know of at least one green-card-carrying Canadian who reentered the United States after a trip to Cuba and spent the next two months fearing she was about to be booted out. Eventually she received a letter from the State Department clearing her, but it was a nerve-wracking experience. To recap, federal law prohibits U.S. tour operators from offering trips to Cuba, blocks flights to Cuba and prohibits U.S. residents from spending money there. An exception is made for study and professional tours and a limited number of other types for which people can be "licensed." Marazul Tours Inc. of Weehawken, N.J., books such programs in cooperation with the Center for Cuban Studies. Marazul Tours is at Tower Plaza, 4100 Park Ave., Weehawken, NJ 07087, phone (201) 319-9670 or (800) 223-5334. The Center for Cuban Studies is at 124 W. 23rd St., New York, NY 10011; phone (212) 242-0559. About a dozen other interest organizations also arrange trips.

A listing of these groups can be found in the "Cuba" travel guide, by David Stanley (Lonely Planet Publications, 1997). That guide, as well as the "Cuba Handbook," by Christopher Baker (Moon Travel, 1997), offers extensive information on other ways to reach Cuba, notably by going through other countries. Many Americans use flights departing from Canada, Cancun and Nassau to reach Havana. Cuban airport officials provide a visa card rather than a visa stamp in your passport. Other locations from which there is regular or charter service to Cuba include Mexico City, Merida, Costa Rica, Grand Cayman, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Maarten, Guadeloupe and Barbados.

A description of federal rules on Cuba can be found through the State Department Web site. Look for the Office of Foreign Assets Control listing. It's also available by calling (202) 622-2480. There's also a U.S.-Cuba Policy home page with extensive information on official policy.

Cuba Travel operates regular packages, including flights, between Tijuana, Mexico and Havana. The site also provides a roundup of ways to reach Cuba. As for the "rebuttable presumption," an Office of Foreign Assets Control regulation from 1998 creates a rebuttable presumption that travelers subject to U.S. jurisdiction who traveled to Cuba without a general or specific license have engaged in prohibited transactions. According to the State Department site, travelers may rebut the presumption by presenting a signed explanatory statement, with supporting documents, showing they were able to travel without spending money in Cuba. "Appropriate enforcement action" will be taken in those cases where the traveler is unable to provide sufficient evidence that all expenses were paid for while in Cuba. Further information is available from OFAC by contacting (202) 622-2480 or in Miami (305) 530-7177.

Thomas Cook refuses to replace a friend's traveler's checks, which were stolen from her hotel room in Egypt while she was sightseeing. The company contends she did not take close enough care of them and has denied her claim for replacement. Is this typical behavior by traveler's check companies, does it seem reasonable, and what do you recommend about money on such trips?

It's like being robbed twice, isn't it? What you've described sounds like a raw deal, but companies that issue traveler's checks make and apply their own rules for when they'll provide refunds. And unlike drug advertisers who must publicize adverse side effects, travel check companies aren't required to post a disclaimer in their ads that says: "However, if you don't follow our rules explicitly, we might well refuse to cover your losses. And it's up to us -- there's no appeal." All companies that issue traveler's checks include fine print in the usage rules that gives them a way out of refunding the checks if some standard of reasonable care is not met. I don't know the details of your friend's case, but I suspect a refund might be denied if, for instance, the checks were taken from a bag left in a lodging that obviously had no security, or if the hotel had repeatedly been the site of such thefts.

But that also raises this question: Most hotels, even luxury ones, encourage guests to leave valuables in the front desk vault. This warning often arises even at hotels with in-room safes. Therefore, if you leave your traveler's checks in one of those rooms, you're violating the hotel policy, and might that also be excuse enough for the claim to be denied? Claims are decided on a case-by-case basis, and I doubt if any company is going to publicize how often it rejects claims. However, if readers have other accounts of traveler's check claims not being honored, send them to Travel Advisor and I'll provide an accounting in a later column. If there isn't some clearly questionable circumstance that's being cited by Thomas Cook, you should complain to your state attorney general's consumer office. Probably nothing will come of that, but sometimes when those offices spot an anti-consumer pattern -- even by large companies -- it can become the basis for pressure and sometimes action.

As for money recommendations, I haven't bought traveler's checks for years, partly because of my distaste for the scare tactics used by companies like American Express in their advertisements. (The old Karl Mauldin ads urgently warning of theft come to mind.) Still, I wouldn't rule them out for a long trip, but would employ them only as part of diversified approach that would include cash, traveler's checks and a bank debit card. If you do buy traveler's checks, try to do so through a source such as AAA's member service that does not charge the typical 1 percent service fee at time of purchase. Also, if cashing the checks, be mindful of how service charges can hurt you. You can usually avoid a cashing fee on an American Express check, for instance, by cashing them at an Amex office. Among Web sites that address travel money issues are those of American Express and Thomas Cook.

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