Originally Posted by
Swanhunter
It's very variable. My last 4 transits have been
* 20min wait
* 90min
* no queue at all! straight through in 2mins and back landslide after baggage reclaim and customs in 15
* 30min
It annoys me that a useful connection point to lots of great places in the Caribbean, Central and South America is such a frustratingly unpredictable experience. I certainly don't care for Miami as a town. Dubai style vulgar with added guns and attitude.
This mirrors my recent experiences. I have been through at least a dozen times over the last 4 or 5 months and the worst immigration queue (once only) was an hour, and the best straight through in 2 mins. The average was approx 30 mins.
I always have checked bags and only once or twice have the bags been already waiting when I got down to the baggage hall. The average wait for the bags was probably the best part of an hour from leaving the aircraft.
Customs has never been a serious issue, although one does need to use some gumption to check out which ends of the hall have the real queues.
I went through on a weekend in early Jan and the situation was almost as chaotic as desribed by the OP, with the whole place completely heaving both arriving and departing. But even then there were a lot of CBP agents and immigration only took about 45+ mins.
Worst timing from leaving the arriving aircraft to reaching the departure gate (for conecting flight), was around 1 hr 45 mins and best has been a little over an hour.