Was there a time when arriving MIA int'l pax didn't have to claim and re-check bags?
 

I'm trying to convince someone that it is, in fact, necessary to claim baggage, go through customs, and re-check it for connecting domestic flights when arriving from an international flight at MIA. She claims that MIA is/was an exception to this rule. Is that true now (MIA's own website sure doesn't imply that), or was it ever true?

Intl to intl connections at Miami for certain airlines do not require bags to be claimed and rechecked. So your friend may have flown from say London to some Caribbean destination and had their bags checked straight through.

Look up ITI bags on FT and you will probably find some info on the AA or BA forums. For intl to domestic you would always have to claim and recheck.

In addition to ITI, there's also arrivals from pre-clearance locations (like Aruba) which doesn't require retrieval of bags. Also, believe it was true years and years ago.

Yes, I know intl-to-intl connections are exempt, and arrivals from preclearance locations are exempt--she's insisting that MIA was "always an exception" for intl-to-domestic. OK, I'm not the crazy one. Thanks.

I have to disagree on International to International being exempt. I fly GCM-MIA-YUL four or five times a year and I always have to pick up my bags in MIA and clear customs them re-check to YUL. Pre- Sept 11 ITI was an option.This is on AA.