Warning - MIA wait times

Old Mar 2, 2014, 10:45 pm
  #1  
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Warning - MIA wait times

Flew into MIA this Thursday on 209 with no checked in bags. Arrived on time. I think this was about my 50th trip into MIA over the years. Took me 3 hours to get out the airport. I was first off the plane, hopped on a buggy so went past loads of other pax from other flights. After the mile journey from gate to immigration I hopped off the buggy to join the hundreds of people lining up.

Eventually I got to the top of the line thinking that at least I gave no bags so would walk right out the airport......wrong....took another hour and ten minutes to get through customs. The baggage hall was literally like a zoo. Two officers checking everyone.

Finally as I exited the customs hall I saw two off duty customs officers and asked them if something special was going on today. They said this is now normal service at MIA.

Horrendous experience but I felt much worse for the older passengers and those with kids.

America is supposed to be a world leading super power yet you could be forgiven for thinking on arrival at MIA it's a 4th world Cold War country. Rant over!!
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Old Mar 2, 2014, 11:09 pm
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that sounds horrendous - I have MIA coming up in April as our first long haul with a toddler and I was already worrying about this as I know it's not the best airport for a speedy exit. Does anyone have any hints and tips for a quick getaway ? We're arriving on the BA209 at 1745
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Old Mar 2, 2014, 11:24 pm
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Warning - MIA wait times

Last May I was 4 hours plane to taxi. It was the sole reason for making it my mission to get US Global Entry. Horrendous airport. In contrast just come through JFK with a non-GE friend and we queued for less than 10 mins at immigration.
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 12:15 am
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Avoid PHL - I had an experience just like you are describing here. Took an 1 hr and 20 mins to clear customs and immigration....missed my connection which started a whole world of headaches for me!

JFK on the other hand, as well as EWR no issues at all, right through in no time.

I hear LAX has awful times as well although have not been there recently.

On a side note how can the management at MIA let that happen? Is it down to airport management or local government to sort out?
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 1:10 am
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Originally Posted by dpscrest
Flew into MIA this Thursday on 209 with no checked in bags. Arrived on time. I think this was about my 50th trip into MIA over the years. Took me 3 hours to get out the airport. I was first off the plane, hopped on a buggy so went past loads of other pax from other flights. After the mile journey from gate to immigration I hopped off the buggy to join the hundreds of people lining up.

Eventually I got to the top of the line thinking that at least I gave no bags so would walk right out the airport......wrong....took another hour and ten minutes to get through customs. The baggage hall was literally like a zoo. Two officers checking everyone.

Finally as I exited the customs hall I saw two off duty customs officers and asked them if something special was going on today. They said this is now normal service at MIA.

Horrendous experience but I felt much worse for the older passengers and those with kids.

America is supposed to be a world leading super power yet you could be forgiven for thinking on arrival at MIA it's a 4th world Cold War country. Rant over!!
I have previously posted on a similar experience at Chicago where I was in the immigration queue for 1h58m. I arrived at JFK on Tuesday at 17:30 and walked straight up to an immigration desk. 55 mins from walking off the plane to being in my hotel in midtown Manhattan.

Some USA airports are becoming no-go areas.
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 1:29 am
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Originally Posted by BerksFlyer
I have previously posted on a similar experience at Chicago where I was in the immigration queue for 1h58m. I arrived at JFK on Tuesday at 17:30 and walked straight up to an immigration desk. 55 mins from walking off the plane to being in my hotel in midtown Manhattan.

Some USA airports are becoming no-go areas.
some (all?)
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 1:32 am
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Crikey. I'm.heading there today on AA57 with 3 bags to check. Hopefully it'll be a little better as it generally gets in 2hrs before the OP's BA flight. I have a 3hr connection.

MIA wasn't that horrendous when I connected through there last year. I'll keep my fingers crossed!
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 1:48 am
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These long wait times for entering the US get worse and worse. This might improve if Europe decides to apply the same average wait times for US nationals entering the EU. The EU could impose that by having the arriving US nationals waiting a specific time in special arrival zones before immigration.
After all there is no reason for discrimination and the mutual treatment of arriving 'aliens' should be equal.
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 2:02 am
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Cool

Originally Posted by dpscrest
Flew into MIA this Thursday on 209 with no checked in bags. Arrived on time. I think this was about my 50th trip into MIA over the years. Took me 3 hours to get out the airport. I was first off the plane, hopped on a buggy so went past loads of other pax from other flights. After the mile journey from gate to immigration I hopped off the buggy to join the hundreds of people lining up.

Eventually I got to the top of the line thinking that at least I gave no bags so would walk right out the airport......wrong....took another hour and ten minutes to get through customs. The baggage hall was literally like a zoo. Two officers checking everyone.

Finally as I exited the customs hall I saw two off duty customs officers and asked them if something special was going on today. They said this is now normal service at MIA.

Horrendous experience but I felt much worse for the older passengers and those with kids.

America is supposed to be a world leading super power yet you could be forgiven for thinking on arrival at MIA it's a 4th world Cold War country. Rant over!!


Oh, Miami is definitely a third world country.
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 2:10 am
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MIA is the worst US airport I have ever experienced in terms of arrivals. It is total chaos with essentially a scrum to get through both immigration and then customs. The customs section seems particularly pointless with the huge swathe of passengers pushing through it must be impossible to work out who is with who and what bags they have.

Though I actually quite liked Miami, I might think about transiting somewhere else if I had time. It took us almost 3 hours to get out, with two children, after a 9 hour flight, last year
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 2:19 am
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Originally Posted by dc2447
some (all?)
On the basis that people are reporting short wait times at JFK I put 'some'. Perhaps I should have put 'most'?!
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 2:36 am
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I've had a similar experience at IAD - well over 2 hours to get out of the airport.

But then again, Mrs BBA came through Miami last week arriving from South America and she was through quite quickly - She was back in the AA lounge in less than 45 minutes having cleared immigration, picked up her suitcases, gone through customs and back in again through security. YMMV
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 3:24 am
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I've queued for 3+ hours at JFK, ORD, LAX and DFW.

I've been through in under 40 minutes from plane to taxi at JFK, ORD, LAX and DFW.
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 3:36 am
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MIA is insane as it's essentially the capital of the Carribean. The rest are very hit and miss. US CBP processing is slow, so if you have a slight delay leaving Europe and end up behind a bunch of other flights arriving, there's just no getting out of the huge wait for citizen and visitor alike.
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Old Mar 3, 2014, 3:46 am
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I'm so chuffed I've got GE now. The times I have come through MIA with GE I've felt good avoiding the long queues. I won't need it today - I think coming from SJU its considered a domestic, but even so, best thing we have done to help ease travel pains.
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