MIA - Check In - How Long?
May 20, 2010, 7:45 am
#1
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MIA - Check In - How Long?
Flying tomorrow evening RDU-MIA-MGA with one checked bag. 
I hate checking bags but it is necessary in this case as I am taking lots of stuff for a friend that lives in Nicaragau.
I have an overnight stop-over at MIA. I am staying at MIA Marriott and taking their shuttle which they tell me runs every 15 minutes...
I must retrieve my checked bag at MIA and recheck the next morning.
My flight from MIA - MGA is at 11:15am
Although I have traveled thru MIA many times, I have never actually checked in there and haven't a clue how far in advance I should try to arrive.
I don't want to be rushed and stress... but also don't want to sit around the terminal longer than necessary.
I hate checking bags but it is necessary in this case as I am taking lots of stuff for a friend that lives in Nicaragau. I have an overnight stop-over at MIA. I am staying at MIA Marriott and taking their shuttle which they tell me runs every 15 minutes...
I must retrieve my checked bag at MIA and recheck the next morning.
My flight from MIA - MGA is at 11:15am
Although I have traveled thru MIA many times, I have never actually checked in there and haven't a clue how far in advance I should try to arrive.
I don't want to be rushed and stress... but also don't want to sit around the terminal longer than necessary.
May 20, 2010, 9:31 am
#2
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Let's move this to our Travel->Florida forum for further discussion. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.
May 20, 2010, 8:35 pm
#3
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fwiw, I travel to/from MIA several times a year on UA (Terminal J) and am most often flying out on a weekday around 3:45 PM.
The most recent trip, earlier this month was the first time I EVER breezed through security.
I'm thinking they either staffed up and perhaps, finally, placed a TSA id checker to handle the elite line.
Every other trip took at least 30-45 minutes to be screened. There was always an elite line but then it blended in with the regular line creating a bottle neck and the whole process seemed to slow down to a crawl.
Now, I've never checked a bag, but this last trip, did have reason to stop at the counter to ask about my flight.
Again, I was in the 1K line with the agent helping 1 person and no else in line.
There were only 2 UA agents and yet both took forever to check in those passengers.
Plus, neither seemed to be all that knowledgeable and had to ask a supervisor several questions. I almost left but then an agent was free.
I simply asked to be put on the volunteer list for my flight. He took my ticket, punched some keys and handed it back.
As I spent waay too long there, I took the boarding pass and later saw that the agent did not do as I asked but rather printed me out a confirmation for an upgrade that I was already waitlisted for.
That said, UA is really not interested in serving MIA so I shouldn't have expected much better.
Bottom Line: Err on the side of giving yourself plenty of time. However, if you're flying AA or perhaps, even DL I've heard folks have better experiences
The most recent trip, earlier this month was the first time I EVER breezed through security.
I'm thinking they either staffed up and perhaps, finally, placed a TSA id checker to handle the elite line.
Every other trip took at least 30-45 minutes to be screened. There was always an elite line but then it blended in with the regular line creating a bottle neck and the whole process seemed to slow down to a crawl.
Now, I've never checked a bag, but this last trip, did have reason to stop at the counter to ask about my flight.
Again, I was in the 1K line with the agent helping 1 person and no else in line.
There were only 2 UA agents and yet both took forever to check in those passengers.
Plus, neither seemed to be all that knowledgeable and had to ask a supervisor several questions. I almost left but then an agent was free.
I simply asked to be put on the volunteer list for my flight. He took my ticket, punched some keys and handed it back.
As I spent waay too long there, I took the boarding pass and later saw that the agent did not do as I asked but rather printed me out a confirmation for an upgrade that I was already waitlisted for.
That said, UA is really not interested in serving MIA so I shouldn't have expected much better.
Bottom Line: Err on the side of giving yourself plenty of time. However, if you're flying AA or perhaps, even DL I've heard folks have better experiences