Customs and Immigration time in Miami

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driftwood

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Becky and me are looking at doing the SB Surge to Curacao this year and will have to connect through MIA. Our shortest layover coming back is just short of 2hrs. That is a bit under my "minimum" time to go through immigration, customs and catch a connecting flight. We can take an earlier flight to be safe.

Just wondering how reasonable a 2 hour window is for Miami.
 
That's very tight!! I work at MIA. Some days that'll work, some days .......not a chance. Increase ur odds by enrolling in global entry or TSA pre check. Also if u have to connect to another terminal (other than d & e or h and j) u have to leave the secured area and go thru Tsa again..... Hope this helps and safe travels!!


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I have pre-check and it helped as now you have a Kiosk and pretty much blow through immigration . BUT Miami luggage claim and Customs is a frigging 3rd world joke. Miami management is a text book example of the worst flow management on this earth. Seriously I cannot imagine how anyone could sit down and make it worse without adding a draw bridge, moat and troll. Ellis Island moved people quicker. Save your sanity and go through Charlotte.
 
We have transferred to Toronto through Miami from curacao on several trips. We have never had more than 2 hours. We always made our flight. You need to let staff at lineups know you have a tight connection window and they will get you near the front of the line. The only part that was really slow was a check exiting luggage claim.
We were always staying with AA however, not sure how an airline change would affect your time...
 
I have easily spent 3 hours on occasion going through customs and immigration in Miami.

The story that I have heard many times is that Government staff in the airport are on some kind of extended go-slow in relation to some interminable dispute over pay or conditions or some such.

I don't know if it is true, but I earnestly believe that it is the most slow and graceless clearance system that God saw fit to put on the face of this earth. And I have been to some real sh!tholes in Africa in my time.
 
All of the above is very true. I urge you all to WRITE LETTERS TO THE AIRPORT DIRECTOR of these concerns!!!! As an airport employee we make suggestions all the time to management, but they never listen. It's very frustrating to us as well as the traveling public that WE have to deal with while management sit on their behinds in total comfort. WRITE WRITE WRITE!!!


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I appreciate all the replies. For peace of mind, I think we will go with a much longer layover in MIA.

This is what I came up with. The only real option flying out of Austin is American Airline. On the return, Taking the early flight out of CUR to MIA we have a 4 hour layover before flying to DFW and then on to AUS. Total travel time increases by 4 hours but we hit AUS earlier.
 
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2 hours in Miami is a crapshoot, even with Global Entry/PreCheck. Baggage claim & customs is generally a humongous mess. We've both won and lost the gamble, and at least once made our flight but our luggage didn't (wasn't at all surprised given the disastrous state baggage recheck was in at the time.) So if I have the option of an earlier flight that will allow more time to get through Miami, that's usually what I'll do. Even better if I can avoid Miami, but often you just can't.
 
All of the above is very true. I urge you all to WRITE LETTERS TO THE AIRPORT DIRECTOR of these concerns!!!! As an airport employee we make suggestions all the time to management, but they never listen. It's very frustrating to us as well as the traveling public that WE have to deal with while management sit on their behinds in total comfort. WRITE WRITE WRITE!!!

Quite honestly I have written on 2 occasions and not a response. Perhaps I wasn't speaking Spanish? I rue the day delta quit flying from ATL so now whenever possible I go via Charlotte. Yup Insel may cost a little more but flight attendants are super nice provide a snack and the flight is tranquil. Charlotte Customs and Immigration on Saturdays are busy but organized less than an hour and we were checking in on our outbound flight. Miamiman I really feel for you and know how frustrating inept management can be! Unfortunately, it is not just the airline industry but manifested in most large corporations. Kindest Regards!
 
I live in Curacao and have for years routinely flown from Curacao to the states. I've never had 2+ hours in MIA and I've never missed my connection. 9 times out of 10 my connection is in the 1:10-1:30 layover time frame. Been within ten minutes a few times but those were closer to one hour layovers.

There is one huge caveat to that though. I always take the early American flight out of Curacao. It stays overnight in Curacao so it never takes off late. If you are on the later flight, that may not be the case. Also I think MIA is a little faster now, as about a year ago they put in those automatic machines for immigration, so no more waiting in long lines. Also, right after you exit through customs stay left. There is a security recheck there for international arrivals that is much much faster then going back upstairs to the main security points.

Good luck, and enjoy our island!

Jeff
 
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