SchmeckFlyer

I am flying one-way between Curaçao and Seattle. In the interests of time and money I want to break the journey up, with a transfer in Miami. If I arrived from Curaçao at 1:15pm, would I be able to make a domestic flight at about 3:00pm with hold luggage to check? Or is that really pushing it? I also worry about customs checks, as Curaçao is a well-known as an origin of drug smuggling (at least to Amsterdam), which may hold up getting into the country. I don't have Global Entry (yet) either.

Apologies if this has been posted, but I did search!

pseudoswede

Do you mean you have two separate tickets? On which airline(s)? There is the possibility of interlining your baggage all the way through to SEA; even if they can, there is the risk that they may refuse.

Even in a best-case scenario, IMO, you would be pushing your luck.

SchmeckFlyer

I would be arriving with Insel Air, and continuing onwards with American Airlines. I don't expect to be able to interline my bag though. I think I'll just play it safe...

teddybear99

As with any international arrival, you will have to go through customs and immigration, which can take at least an hour, so your connection will not work. The minimum connection time Int'l to Domestic is 3 hours.


You will also be changing terminals as Insel goes through customs in the South Terminal (H&J) and American is in the North Terminal (D&E).

Have you tried going through FLL with Alaska Airlines?

Often1

Bear in mind that the MCT applies only to single ticket connections. OP is not connecting, but transferring at MIA between two separate tickets. Three hours is cutting this close.

If there is a delay, OP will be at AA's mercy as to whether and under what circumstances he is rebooked.

Savings can evaporate very quickly. I would look carefully at other options and then determine whether the MIA savings are really meaningful.

teddybear99

My point exactly that he will never make it. Besides clearing immigration and customs which requires baggage claim before customs, he will need to transfer to the North terminal, a minimum of 15-20 minute walk, then check in with AA, go through security, get to his gate, and board his plane no less than 15 minutes before flight time.

If Insel is late getting in, which happens often, the time is even shorter.

SchmeckFlyer

What an abysmal airport! I ended up flying with AA straight through with slightly over two hour layover. I am glad I did not split up the itinerary as they were literally about the close the gate when I arrived in a sprint. In other words: two hours was barely enough to manage an international to domestic connection on the same airline. Splitting the itinerary would have been a guaranteed missed flight.

It had taken almost two hours to clear immigration, customs and go through security again. Totally unnecessary. There was some sort of check between immigration and collecting bags for customs/agricultural inspection. Employees were doing an atrocious job of managing crowds and lines, and most passengers seemed to wonder aimlessly which obviously did not help speed things along (i.e. 35 minute wait for security yet pretty much everyone waits until the last moment to gets things sorted for security checks). There was no queue for first class passengers or pre-check.

I was also flying "first" class although the experience was anything but. Given AA has a fairly large presence at MIA one would imagine they have facilities arranged for their "premium" passengers. Nothing. Nada. I might as well have been flying RyanAir on a $1 to Benidorm.