My bride and I will be transiting MAA, arriving via BA35 (LHR-MAA) and connecting to AI263 (MAA-TRV-MLE) on the same day (03:00 -> 07:00). American customer service says that we will need to get visas to transit.

1. Is this actually true? We're US citizens. I can't tell from the forums whether we can stay airside in the same international passenger area.

2. Is it better to be safe than sorry and just get eTourist visas, just in case?

Any other tips for making this a smooth connection? I don't know if AA will be able to check our bags all the way through or if we will have to collect them in MAA and recheck with AI.

Thanks!