salut0

Looking at a potential points run to Mexico City — the AA2995 flight from JFK arrives at 2208 and AA2996 departs again at 2315. Can you do a quick turn on the same plane if you were able to get a boarding pass printed at JFK before taking the outbound flight for the inbound MEX-JFK leg, or even able to do your own online checkin and just get a mobile boarding pass?

(This is often possible for BA flights to destinations outside the UK, and there’s a whole thread rating airports and the ease of back to back transfers. Don’t know if the AA forum has a similar thread?

I don’t see Google Flights allowing you to buy a back to back round trip (maybe that’s minimum connection limitations?) but I assume you can book your own nested itinerary roundtrip MEX-JFK-MEX on another PNR.

Any experiences at MEX to share?

guv1976

No personal experience, but here's an interesting article about your situation:

https://www.sanspotter.com/is-1-hour...t%20an%20hour.

("Is a 1 hour layover enough time in Mexico City? (Hahaha)")

JJeffrey

No such thread here since there's no real variability in airport layouts in the US like there is in Europe, it's possible to do immediate quick turns at virtually all US domestic airports. Also positioning to foreign outstations to start a trip isn't really a thing with AA like it is with BA.

In any event I'm sure someone that's familiar with MEX will be along shortly to provide more details on if that is possible or not.

asnovici

Would not think it’s possible. One needs to through immigration then customs then go upstairs to security then walk 15 minutes briskly to the departure gate. Depending on the immigration or customs lines it may eat most of that time. Security line can also be 20 minutes easily.

salut0

Thanks. Note that in that article it does say “Since you won’t have to go through passport control or customs when connecting from one international flight to another in Mexico City, minimum connection times can be as low as 1 hour.” Although I suspect that description was written assuming Aeromexico flights connecting in MEX between two different international airports rather than an inbound on AA from JFK connecting to an outbound on AA to JFK…

guv1976

Are you sure about that?

https://www.touristcardmx.com/news/h...through-mexico

("Do I Need to Go Through Customs for a Connecting Flight in Mexico City?


"Upon arrival at the airport, passengers disembark the aircraft and hand their travel documents to National Immigration Service staff, who will direct them to the transit hall. Travelers will remain here until boarding their onward flight.


"The time between connecting flights in Mexico City cannot be more than 24 hours.")

Whether a back-to-back roundtrip is treated any differently, I cannot say.

asnovici

Thats interesting one can do that. If that’s the case then maybe it’s possible but the line at the immigration may be substantial. Unless they mean to any staff but it has a potential to become messy with finding the right staff.

lrdpenn

Maybe the rules have changed in the last couple of years, but MEX worked just like the US for international transit. There is no transit zone. All arriving international passengers must clear immigration and customs at MEX. I would not at all chance a 1h connection in your case. My experience was also an AM->AM international connection so there was no hidden special perk for AM.

What are you trying to get with this run? Even if this MEX run can work, there has to be an easier way than 10 hours in oAAsis, half of that as a redeye...

Antarius

One more vote for not trying this.

Given Mexico eschewed the opportunity to have a real world class airport and instead are pushing through the short bus equivalent as "the future", I wouldn't try anything. MEX is a Charlie foxtrot on a good day.

Repooc17

Even on connections you need to go through immigration first. This is based on personal experience of many flights via MEX on AM, which operates out of T2. AA operates out of T1, but I imagine the process would be the same.

Lines can be long depending on arrival time relative to other flights. There is something similar to Global Entry the US has.

OP, would be easier and less riskier doing US domestic flights for B2B.

javabytes

There used to be a master thread with quick/same day turn experiences by airport (or maybe by country?). I'm having some trouble finding it though... anyone else know where that lives here?

aztimm

I've seen something like that in the Mileage Run forum.

diburning

This is not true. I connected on Aeromexico (JFK-MEX-UIO) recently and I did have to go through passport control. They will ask if you're entering or transiting and if transiting, they'd ask to see the onward boarding pass. Either way, there's no difference. Entering = they let you in (and if you have a US passport, they don't stamp it). Transiting = they stamp the passport to prove to the next country that you were processed in Mexico. There's no customs check, but after passport control, the transit exit led to an escalator which put me into the checkpoint where I had to reclear security.

flugvergnugen

You may be able to do it, but you should move fast. There will be walking required, and you will have to pass immigration/customs and security, but there are new eGates available, and US biometric passport holders qualify to use them AFAIK. So if you can use an eGate, your wait at immigration should be minimal. Security in MEX is usually fast, and I'd suspect no lines at that hour.

kabroui

Arrivals are segregated from departures at MEX by a plexiglass barrier so you will have to make the trek, likely from the furthest T1 gates 29-35 where most AA flights land. I was there in August, the passport control egates were functional, but I got held up in between the two gates when the photo failed to capture. Fortunately, an attendent reset that for me and it worked the second time, but some people were being redirected over to manual processing when the egates failed.

I'd also argue that MEX airport security is anything but fast and efficient. My return flight (afternoon weekend), it took almost an hour to get through and then the long walk back out to the remote gates. I usually budget 3 hours to get through all of this and have time for beverage at the AC. It really isn't a very efficient, or pleasant airport to deal with. You might be able to get away with this at GUA (if you are set on a run to Latin America) , but I wouldn't try it at MEX.