AA to AA MIA 1:45 connection: LHR-MIA-SJU. In J, time for Flagship Lounge?
 

We will be flying on American Airlines (business class ticket) from London to San Juan, Puerto Rico, via Miami, Florida.

The flight lands in Miami from London at 15:40 HRS , and the connecting flight (also American Airlines departs Miami at 17:25 HRS), so the transfer period between one flight and the other is 1 HR 45 MINS..

We have British passports. and we realise we have to apply for ESTA online before the flights.

While in Miami Airport, would there be ample time to go past immigration passport control, security, AND have time to visit the new American Airlines Flagship lounge
before we board the connecting flight to San Juan?

We understand that the business class tickets would enable us to use the "priority" lane to get through security, but there is no priority lane to get through passport control. Is that right?

Can anyone with knowledge of international arrivals and transfers at Miami Airport please help us? Thank you.

1:45 is not a lot for USA immigration and getting to the next flight. But others will know a lot more.

AA forum threads (where this will get moved to )
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ction-etc.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ov-2017-a.html

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html

(A lot of threads on Miami Airport)

Welcome to Flyertalk @Silklink.

Please follow the redirect as we send this to the AA forum. Further consolidation may occur.

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With 1:45 I certainly wouldn't plan on any extended lounge time. If you're able to luck out and breeze through immigration, customs, and re-clearing security, then you may find yourself with 30 mins or so to kill in the Flagship Lounge, but this is unlikely at MIA in the afternoon with a foreign passport. If that happens consider it an unexpected bonus.

OP has an international-domestic connection, not I-I as stated. SJU is in Puerto Rico.

USA citizens don't need passports to fly to SJU and you don't pass through immigration when you return to the United States. Not sure about non-US citizens.

Wonderful.

So?

Not "considered" domestic. It IS domestic.

Puerto Rico is part of the United States.

I've often had the immigration, customs, and re-clearing security process at MIA take over an hour.

Therefore, I agree with JJeffrey said. You may have about 30 minutes or so to kill, maybe more if immigration is quick, but I can't imagine you'd have more than 30-45 minutes in the lounge.

Yes, Puerto Rico is part of the USA. If you have checked luggage, you will have to reclaim it and recheck.

If fly through MIA with an international-to-domestic connection often. I have Global Entry and therefore Pre-Check for security, so when I check bags the time to get back through security is determined by how long it takes AA to get the bags to the belt. At best, I get through the process and back into the terminal in 50 minutes. That would leave you 55 minutes. You need to be at the gate at least 15 minutes ahead of time, and assume 10 minutes walking to the club and 10 minutes walking from the club, so that would leave 20 minutes at the absolute max. And that is if everything goes perfectly and you are comfortable cutting things very close.

If I were flying your itinerary and had checked bags, even with Global Entry, I would assume that I will not have any club time. It is likely, but far from guaranteed, that with ESTA you will still get to the belt before your bags arrive, but you won't have pre-Check for security, so you will be in the longer line. Some times of the day that matters little and some times it matters a lot.

If your flight gets in early or your flight to SJU is delayed, then you would have a shot at club time. If you do not check bags, you could make the club as well.

Thanks for your information.

Looks like we will have to be prepared not to get to the lounge on our flights LHR-MIA-SJU

We have recently joined Flytertalk's forum and as such, we are not as savvy as some other members here. We apologise if we appear a bit "clumsy" in our putting messages and asking questions here (for example, we put in a different thread to request for information for our return flight from SJU-MIA-LHR, which in hindsight, we should have used this same thread).)

Can we ask, for our return flights SJU-MIA-LHR, we have just under 2 hours (arriving MIA 18:32 HRS , departing MIA 20:25 HRS). We have checked bags from San Juan to London Heathrow.

Does this mean we have to claim the bags at MIA again, recheck it for London-Heathrow? And does this mean we also have to go through passport control before we board our international flight from MIA to LHR?

Does it mean that we will again miss the chance to visit the lovely Flagship Lounge on our return flights, just as we would on our outward flights? Gosh, the lounge, it seems to be so near, yet so far!

The claiming , and re-checking bags at a transit stop like Miami is something which we are not too used to, although we realise this may be "normal" if you travel to/within the United States. In other parts of the world, usually, we could check our bags direct to our destinations without having the claim to re-check the bags again. We haven't even started the flights and already, all these checking and re-checking of bags, etc., sounds quite exhausting (and probably no lounge to "recuperate" either due to shortage of time! sigh!!!)

No worries. We were all “newbies” once, and we’ve benefitted from the “hive memory”. We hope you will too, and that you’ll also feel comfortable sharing experience and newly gained knowledge back.

As to MIA, I’m a US citizen with Global Entry, and personally, I’d not book that close a connection INT-DOM at MIA. Particularly early mornings, after exiting Customs (you’ll have to claim your hold baggage after Immigration, recheck at the facility immediately after turning in your Customs receipt) I’ve been stuck in lengthy queues waiting for the TSA security and airside entry point ( to your left as you exit Customs) to open.

If you should miss your flight, AA will reaccommodate you on the next flight with available seats.

Do have a look at https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ction-etc.html if you can.

What is so important about visiting the lounge? I never have figured that out in 40+ years of flying.

OK, *now* the issue of whether MIA-SJU (and vice-versa) is considered domestic vs. international matters. (Before it had no bearing yet some people felt the need to correct you anyway).

Because SJU is domestic U.S., there will be no clearing customs in MIA, no need to collect bags, and no need to re-clear security. You will arrive as on a regular domestic flight right into the departures area, where you can head straight to the lounge.

Also, there is no outgoing passport control at all when departing the U.S. (well, I think there is but it's behind the scenes.)