Any suggestions for the minimum time to transfer planes from the Caribbean to another carrier? I don’t want to ruin my relaxing vacation with a missed flight on the return.
What island? We had tickets from Jamaica. The plane was almost full from their first stop, and only a few seats left. We got the last two, it if it wasn’t for my young son, we would have missed that plane. Perhaps I’m not the one to offer a suggestion, as that was 20 years ago.
Depends if you have to go through customs/immigration and which terminals the two carriers fly out of.
We have friends who travel to the Carribean multiple times every year, and have been traveling there for many years. They always avoid Miami. They feel it is too small of an airport for the amount of planes and people flowing through it. I wouldn’t try to travel through Miami with any kind of “minimum time to transfer” mindset.
Several months ago we flew into Miami from a Caribbean island and had a connection on the same airline to another city in the US. Accounting for customs and immigration, possibly waiting for a bag , rechecking the bag and getting to a new gate I would allow 3 hours. If you need to travel to a different terminal for a different airline, 3 1/2 - 4 hours would not be unrealistic. We had 2 hours 45 minutes in the same terminal with Global Entry and did not make it - bags took almost an hour !
Thank you @az1001, Some of the other options are to fly through a snow zone airport in January which seems even riskier.
Yup. Luggage plus customs plus dragging yourself to the far end of the terminal I’d put at at least 3 hours. But it will be pretty grim anywhere you connect so maybe plan for a deliberate layover in Miami on the way back.
It also depends on whether you have Global Entry. It’s much, much quicker.
Miami is a terrible airport. The last time I transferred there for an international flight, they made several planefuls of passengers wait to enter the baggage claim for at least 45 minutes, because there were already too many people in there. We were hundreds of people jammed in a narrow hallway. My 16 yo fainted from the heat. Our bags didn’t arrive until 30 minutes before our flight (and since we were arriving in the US, we still go through customs and recheck bags). Then they wouldn’t let said 16yo on the plane without a doctor’s note because she had fainted. It went downhill from there. BTW we weren’t switching carriers.
International to domestic connections in the US will require going through US immigration, baggage claim, US customs, rechecking bags, and security screening before reaching the next segment. If you have carry-on bags only, then you can skip the baggage claim and rechecking bags, but the US immigration, US customs, and security screening will add additional time needed to make the connection.
I don’t think I’ve ever walked farther in an airport than in Miami! And the “people movers” weren’t working. I was glad my mom wasn’t traveling with us.
If you can change in Tampa, it is much easier and faster. Orlando has been a nightmare lately.
Even coming from the USVI (no customs etc) I like a healthy 2 hours. You may have long distances to travel.
If you have a Platinum AmEx card, you can relax in the Centurion Lounge.
Miami is a particularly distasteful airport, but from the Caribbean it is often the only choice. I’ve never had to switch airlines there, though, and have not had a problem with my connection or timing on the same airline. In May we had a surprisingly pleasant sit down dinner at a sports pub in the airport between flights.