Travel Question

[u279601]

I am traveling to Mexico for vacation in a few days and was wondering if anyone knows the rules for traveling with Cuban cigars FROM the USA. I know I can't bring any back IN, but can I take some with me on my trip with out issues? Should I remove the bands and put them in a small travel humi? I was only thinking of bringing about 10 - H. Upmanns tubos with me but the tubes are clearly marked "Havana" on them. I thouhgt these would be the easiest because they are a good easy smoke, cheap in case they get confiscated, in tubes to avoid having to bring a humi through customs. Any insight will be appreciated. ------ Tom, St Louis

[wdh]

» I am traveling to Mexico for vacation in a few days and was wondering if

» anyone knows the rules for traveling with Cuban cigars FROM the USA.

Tom - What follows is all IMHO, supplemented with a little experience. I've gone from the US to Bermuda, Canada and Mexico with CCs and take half a dozen sticks or more with me whenever I travel domestically. Since it's not US Customs you're clearing outbound, I can't imagine the agents of these countries would give a hoot what kind of cigars they are. Inbound of course, you'll be rolling the dice bringing them back in. domestically I've often wondered what the TSA / Homeland Security folks would think or do....but so far no one has questioned or even looked into my travel box.

Bill

[u279601]

Thanks Bill. Has anyone from the US made the pilgrimage to Cuba as a vacation? I would love to go but thanks to our embargo, that trip is verboten. Can you take a flight to Mex., Bahamas, DR, etc. and then on to Cuba without issues or is that off limits too?

tom

[El Presidente]

» Thanks Bill. Has anyone from the US made the pilgrimage to Cuba as a

» vacation? I would love to go but thanks to our embargo, that trip is

» verboten. Can you take a flight to Mex., Bahamas, DR, etc. and then on to

» Cuba without issues or is that off limits too?

»

» tom

Tom...there are always issues in relation to US travel to Cuba. Getting a Tourist card from Toronto, Mexico City, Cancun or the Dom Republic is not a problem. However, you need to be able to ensure that those countries do not stamp your passport showing an exit and a return before another exit. If caught at US customs they may ask "so where did you go between the 10'th of June and the 15th when you left and re-entered Dom Republic?"

A quick $20 in the DR can make passport stamps suddenly become optional. It was once easier in that you could use your Birth Cirtificate out of the DR and Mexico (so I believe).

You need to have some cojones, know how or connections if you are a US citiczen who can not avail himself to Medical exemptions etc. It is not a rookie exercise.

Many US Citizens go and nothing happens. However getting caught is a price you pay.

If I were a US citizen I don't think I would risk it unless I had connections who could lend a hand in the area of passports (making stamping disappear) and visa's. If you don't speak Spanish I wouldn't even try trying to negotiate a small incentive in the airport immigration cue.

[u279601]

Damn, I love this site !!!

Thanks Prez, I guess I'll just have to sit back and wait for Castro to die, George Bush to get the hell out and for the The World Police (aka. USA) to end an embargo that is long been obsolete. Is that too much to ask?? --- tom, St Louis

[zuma]

» Damn, I love this site !!!

» Thanks Prez, I guess I'll just have to sit back and wait for Castro to

» die, George Bush to get the hell out and for the The World Police (aka.

» USA) to end an embargo that is long been obsolete. Is that too much to

» ask?? --- tom, St Louis

Hmmm... Given that the US of A is the mother of all cigar markets, sometimes I wonder how good the supply of cigars to Australia would be if the embargo was not in place...Naturally, an steep increase in demand would mean a steep increase in price (that bloody Adam Smith!) unless we could hedge future supply to Australia... Any thought Prez?

[El Presidente]

This question (in part) was answered by Manuel Garcia at a Habanos s.a. conference in February.

Their estimate is that the USA would consume 50,000,000 Cuban cigars once the Embargo is over. Current production is approx 160,000,0000 cigars.

I automatically assumed we would see a 1/3 reduction in supply into the rest of the world.

Couple of points.

1. Cuban cigars are already going into the US. How many? Not sure. What I am very sure about is that the current proposal to put the Distributor the box of cigars went to on the warranty seal in some manner is aimed at curbing this future parralel market.

2. Pricing will go up. They will go up anyway due to taxes/duties etc but there will be a REAL spike. 10% increase.....lose 30% of your clients and you still make the same profit. What about a 30% increase? No-one has ever tried but I am putting my money down now that that is what the Habanos distributors would see over see over a 2-3 year period.

Habanos are counting on the "Purchaser Bell Curve"

30% couldn't give a rats arse about price. They will buy anyway.

40% will cut back their purchases to meet budgets.

30% will take offence and seek out in part substitutes...but will still smoke the occasional Habanos while grumbling.

The slack will be taken up by the US market. Overall profits will skyrocket.

Depressing? Absolutely. Existing worldwide distributors will be reemed royaly. At the end of the day this is our bread and butter.

I also see a concentration of larger retailers worldwide. This is already happening. Smart operators will continue to flourish. New/old and small operators without connections (political/business) will fall by the wayside.

[zuma]

Thanx for your comments Prez...

I should start taking heart and head to that reality, start upgrading my "hoarding facilities" and start buying with a look to "investing for the future"...

Though the anti-smoking movement will continue to reduce the ranks of cigarette smokers, I seriously doubt that they will have any significant impact on the number of premium-cigar smokers world-wide (let alone habanos)... in fact, I sometimes I have the feeling that our ranks are swelling (I have no hard evidence of that, though).

[habanohal]

I go to the Carribean 2-4 times a year a week at a time. I have a travel humi and take about 50 CCs' with. On the way out of the country I leave them the way they are

What ever is left, on the trip back, I also leave em with the bands on. I never had a problem yet

[ARRV]

Pres,

What do you think the end of the Cuban embargo will do to the non cuban market?

Will a retailer be tempted to off-set the loss of sales of Cuban cigars to the lower 30% of the market who say "too expensive, no more" by trying to sell NCs to them?

Will NCs plummet in price to meet that market knowing they probably couldn't compete with Cubans regularly at the high end anyway?

» This question (in part) was answered by Manuel Garcia at a Habanos s.a.

» conference in February.

»

» Their estimate is that the USA would consume 50,000,000 Cuban cigars once

» the Embargo is over. Current production is approx 160,000,0000 cigars.

»

» I automatically assumed we would see a 1/3 reduction in supply into the

» rest of the world.

»

» Couple of points.

»

» 1. Cuban cigars are already going into the US. How many? Not sure. What I

» am very sure about is that the current proposal to put the Distributor the

» box of cigars went to on the warranty seal in some manner is aimed at

» curbing this future parralel market.

»

» 2. Pricing will go up. They will go up anyway due to taxes/duties etc but

» there will be a REAL spike. 10% increase.....lose 30% of your

» clients and you still make the same profit. What about a 30% increase?

» No-one has ever tried but I am putting my money down now that that is what

» the Habanos distributors would see over see over a 2-3 year period.

» Habanos are counting on the "Purchaser Bell Curve"

»

» 30% couldn't give a rats arse about price. They will buy anyway.

» 40% will cut back their purchases to meet budgets.

» 30% will take offence and seek out in part substitutes...but will still

» smoke the occasional Habanos while grumbling.

»

» The slack will be taken up by the US market. Overall profits will

» skyrocket.

»

» Depressing? Absolutely. Existing worldwide distributors will be reemed

» royaly. At the end of the day this is our bread and butter.

»

» I also see a concentration of larger retailers worldwide. This is already

» happening. Smart operators will continue to flourish. New/old and small

» operators without connections (political/business) will fall by the

» wayside.

[El Presidente]

» Pres,

»

» What do you think the end of the Cuban embargo will do to the non cuban

» market?

»

» Will a retailer be tempted to off-set the loss of sales of Cuban cigars to

» the lower 30% of the market who say "too expensive, no more" by trying to

» sell NCs to them?

»

» Will NCs plummet in price to meet that market knowing they probably

» couldn't compete with Cubans regularly at the high end anyway?

»

The non Cuban market will be a beneficiary outside of the US where in all honesty the segment (NC) has underperformed. I think it represents a real opportunity for quality brands (Fuente/Padron/Davidoff + other brands no-one outside of the US has heard of) to gain an economically sustainable foothold in the market.

This will be particularly true for smaller tobacconists who need to find "Price Point" cigars.

Altadis holds a huge linup of NC brands. They will also be pushing these more than ever to fill supply holes.

[ARRV]

Pres,

What are the general numbers on worldwide cigar markets anyway - US 1st, europe 2nd then Asia, Sth / Latin America and then "rest of the world"?

Also to bother you while I can!!!;-)

What do you think the smoking bans will do to the cigar market - when eventually imposed worldwide.

My thoughts are that it probably won't affect it too much as cigar smokers generally smoke at home or in sympathetic environs - One is hardly going to light up a RyJ cazadores over a quick sharpener at the local.

The end of meal cigar will probably now be enjoyed at home or alternatively at an outside venue I guess. What do you think?

[El Presidente]

» Pres,

»

» What are the general numbers on worldwide cigar markets anyway - US 1st,

» europe 2nd then Asia, Sth / Latin America and then "rest of the world"?

I haven't got access to last years numbers but when talking "Premium Cigars" it looks like this:

1. USA

2. Europe

3. Russia and Middle East

4. Asia Pacific

5. Rest of the world.

No 3 and 4 are the big movers in terms of territory and volume. »

» Also to bother you while I can!!!;-)

»

» What do you think the smoking bans will do to the cigar market - when

» eventually imposed worldwide.

»

» My thoughts are that it probably won't affect it too much as cigar smokers

» generally smoke at home or in sympathetic environs - One is hardly going to

» light up a RyJ cazadores over a quick sharpener at the local.

»

» The end of meal cigar will probably now be enjoyed at home or

» alternatively at an outside venue I guess. What do you think?

Smoking bans on cigars in Ireland and New Zealand saw cigar sales bounce back within 3-4 years to pre ban levels.

I am sceptical of these numbers however. Personally I feel that it is climate specific. Where you have a country which has an outdoor eating culture + warm weather it will not pose a problem. However in a place such as the UK, I think it will be a harder road.

[ARRV]

Thanks for your thoughts Pres

[Guest cohiba]

I entered Havana from the Dom Rep earlier this year. Rob was kind enough to make all the arrangments for me to get around once i arrived.

I go to Puerto Rico every year for a couple months. My wife moved here after we married so this is easily done for us. I couldnt resist the notion of being so close to cuba and not going. After several calls with Rob and alot of research on my end we made it.

My wife being Puerto Rican was definatly the key, my opinion. Everywhere we go in the Carribean, she is refer to as their sister!!! This was evident in ther Dom Republic. We told them what are intentions where and sfter discussing where my wife was from it was made possible. In total we paid out $120 in payoffs, this got us a private escort throught the terminal from a immigration dude. And on the plane. (round trip payoff total) Very scary not knowing what would happen both ways. Without my wife.............i wouldnt do it again. Also, traveling around the caribe requires a US passport. They say it is optionable, but its not. I had a hell of a time leaving St. Thomas without it. I didnt want to pull it out just to see what would happen, but i was required to do so. Thats US territory to another US territory. Go figure.

Travel with caution and respect !!!

Never had a problem traveling with my cigars, bands on. I carry them on the plane with me.