Copa and Taca permit reservations and payment by credit card online for flights through Central America.

Copa (tel. 507/217-2672 or 800/359-2672 in the U.S., www.copaair.com) flies to Havana from Panama City four times daily (from US$548 round-trip). Taca (tel. 305/870-7500 or 800/400-8222, www.taca.com) has twice-daily flights from El Salvador to Havana (from US$644 round-trip) and daily flights from Costa Rica (from US$413) with connecting flights from the United States. Cubana (www.cubana.cu) flies to Havana daily from Costa Rica (tel. 506/2221-7625, cubanaju [at] racsa [dot] co [dot] cr) and from Guatemala (tel. 502/2367-2288) on Saturday.

From Mexico: The national carrier Mexicana and its subsidiary Click (tel. 59/9848-5998 in Mexico City, tel. 800/801-2010 from elsewhere in Mexico, tel. 800/531-7921 from the U.S.) have daily flights to Havana from Cancún (from US$297 round-trip), Mexico City (from about US$430 round-trip), and Mérida (from US$402 round-trip). However, U.S. citizens can’t book via their website. To make reservations, call the airline and request a special telephone number (tel. 55/5448-0990) that handles Cuba reservations. Credit cards (except American Express) are not accepted; pay in cash at the Mexican gateway airport at least four hours before departure. (Note: Mexicana reportedly has a reputation for delaying luggage on this route.) Cubana (tel. 52-55/52-506355 in Mexico City, tel. 52-9988/87-7210 in Cancún, reservaciones [at] cubanamexico [dot] com) also flies from Mexico City five times weekly (from US$430 round-trip) and daily from Cancún (from US$306 round-trip).

Cuban-owned Viajes Divermex (Av. Cobá #5, Centro Comercial Plaza América, Cancún, Quintana Roo, México CP 77500, tel. 998/884-5005, www.divermex.com) specializes in Cuba packages.

From Nicaragua: Cuba’s Aero Caribbean (www.cubajet.com) flies from Managua to Havana on Saturday (US$572 round-trip).