Miami Airport-clearing customs question
 

AA has changed my connection time from 3 1/2 hours to 2 hours and 20 minutes.

We are flying from Mexico City to Boston on AA with a connection in MIA (both flights on one ticket). Is 2 hours and 20 minutes generally enough time to make my connection?

How long a walk is it from international arrivals, to baggage claim to customs, to departure gates. My DH can't walk as quickly as I can, so I am thinking of asking for assistance if the walks will take a long time.

A 2:20 international to domestic connection in MIA should be OK..

The time it takes to walk from your arrival gate to Passport Control (Immigration) can vary from a minute or two to perhaps 10 minutes depending on your particular arrival gate. There's no way to predict which gate you'll arrive at as they can and do change. FYI - if you walk there are "Moving Walkways" at various points along the corridor that you can use to make the trek easier.

Also. if your flight from Mexico City arrives in Concourse D you can also take the SkyTrain to Passport Control.

At Passport Controll, if you are a US Citizen they now have dozens of Automated Kiosks (similar to Global Entry) that can help speed you through the immigration process as well as the regular "manned stations".

Once you clear Immigration it's only a a short distance to the escalators that lead to Baggage Claim and the Customs Hall. After you exit the Customs Hall you simply recheck your luggage at the "recheck station" and proceed to the TSA Checkpoint and your connecting Gate.

Now no matter where your arrival gate happens to be, if your traveling companion has mobility issues you'd be wise to ask American Airlines for assistance. If you do this before your Mexico to MIA flight they will arrange for a Skycap to meet you with a wheel chair at the your Arrival Gate and escort you all the way to your connecting gate. It will save you time as the SkyCaps get "priority access" through Immigration and TSA. Be sure to tip the SkyCap for his/her service as they rely on tips for much of their salary.

Thank you for your prompt reply and for your suggestion that we ask for assistance for our arrival in MIA. We've never requested it before, but I think for this trip it is called for.

We whizzed through MIA Immigration and Customs in about ten minutes.