I am returning Guatemala to Boston on American Airlines in Feb. I have 2 hours to clear customs and make my 8:30PM flight to Boston. Is this enough time? If I miss my flight, and can't get out til the next day, am I or the airline responsible for the night at the hotel. My flights are booked on one American Airlines ticket. Any tips on getting through Miami immegration quickly?

Immigration and customs don't care about your connection time. There are no tricks to get through it any faster than they want you to.

If AA flight from Guatemala arrives on time or let's say no more than 1 hour late and immigration or customs take longer than usual than AA is NOT responsible for your overnight in MIA.

Actual legal connection time from int to dom at MIA is about 1 hour so even if the flight arrives 1 hour late, AA has no responsibility to put you up for the night. However, that said, if you arrive at least 1 hour before your connection and something goes really bad with immigration or customs and you do miss your connection, go to AA customer service desk and ask if they can provide a distress traveler coupon. It will save you some money at the hotel, usually about 50%.

95% of the time everything works as advertised, so I would not stress too much.

Not specific to MIA, but there are ways to get through immigration and customs quickly entering the US.

- Fly first/business class. Or get the first rows in coach.

- Walk fast or run to immigration. Don't stop at the restroom.

- Be a US citizen or resident.

- Don't act/dress like a terrorist.

- Don't check bags.

- Don't have anything to be declared at customs. i.e. no food, don't bring over $800 of goods, no more than $10,000 cash, no visiting farms during your trip, etc...

Thanks for your replies.

<b>rkkwan</b>

I know exactly what you are trying to say, but I followed every one of your points to the letter, but it didn't stop the customs officer from sending me for a secondary search. Don't know the reason and the secondary officer didn't either but I had to wait in line for some time before I got to talk to the secondary. At the end he ran my passport through, asked me 1 or 2 questions, apologized for the first officers decision and that was that, he never even looked at my luggage, but instead of about 15 minutes immigration/customs procedure after a very long NRT-DFW flight, it took just over an hour. I made my connection to TPA but I wanted a hot shower at the AC soooo bad I could taste it. It didn't happen.

rkkwan had a great summary with which I will disagree on only point. If returning during an expected rush hour (like morning in Miami, afternoons most everywhere else, and others) I always check that I have been on a farm. (Actually, as I ride horses a lot, it is often true.)

What happens is if there are pre-screeners for Customs you are diverted over to Agriculture where there is rarely any line. The ask for details and I say I was horseback riding. 90% of the time they ask what shoes was I wearing and I point to those on my feet (the other 10% it is a simple wave through). They do a quick spray bottle pump on to the soles and I'm waved through, and they collect the form. This actually bypasses Customs completely and in conjunction with the other hints above I am on my way ahead of almost everyone.

And to add to rkkwan's list, try to avoid having to speak with your airline at their service counter near the luggage re-check station. Those lines are often very long and always very slow. If you definitely missed a connecting flight, recheck the bag anyway and the airline will get it on the next flight. For yourself, go to a (usually) less crowded service desk on the main terminal floor for reticketing, problems and changes.

At most of the terminals I've entered the US, you get your bags, and you have to stand in line (usually short, occasionally a bit long) to get the Customs officer who takes the customs form. It's him/her who tells you to go straight out or to go to secondary screening.

It's not like you can volunteer to go straight to secondary screening line, so time saving there.

But that's just my regular experience at EWR B/C, IAH E, and a handful of other terminals. There may be airports that &quot;volunteering&quot; to secondary screening may be faster. But I have no such experience.

Okay, I take it back. Upon reflection, there is one time that the immigration officer asked what kind of &quot;food&quot; I declared on the customs form, circling that part of the form and tell me to go directly to agriculture. Can't remember which airport/terminal that was, however.

Good list given by rkkwan. I'll only add for MIA to go to the Immigration lanes as far to the right as possible (assuming US citizen) Then, if you have nothing to declare go toward the far left thru customs. Worked for me many times, but I did not have to claim luggage. Go around the luggage carousel to get into the Customs area..don't go in between.

Three crucial points here. You can't predict how long immigration will take. So:

1. Having recently had almost precisely this problem, I believe your best friends are going to be the ladies at Guatemala City.

If you're not going business, ask the people at checkin to reassign you a seat to the front of economy, explaining your problem. Don't know what happened, but the ladies at landside checkin couldn't immediately help, but told me to recheck with the gate agents.

Something seemed to go onto my record: the gate agent reassigned me to the front aisle seat in cattle class, so with a bit of creative elbow-wielding, I got to the immigration queue at MIA ahead of all my fellow-passengers.

2. Documentation. The AA plane turned out not to have the forms you need to fill in to enter the US. Being a bit of a cynic and sort of suspecting this, I got the ladies at Guatemala to give me US landing forms before getting on the plane. They only had them in Spanish but it still meant I was advancing in the queue, with forms I'd filled in on the plane, while fellow-passengers were scurrying around the immigration area trying to find forms and pens. It's perfectly OK to complete a Spanish-language form in English.

3. It doesn't help immensely, since signage at MIA is OK (not fantastic, but OK), but downloading plans of the terminals beforehand, familiarising myself with them, and checking for arrival/departure terminals beforehand eased my mind a lot during the process.

Those are good guidelines for <u>improving your chances</u> for getting through the line quickly. Those are things that you can control. Follow those points and get pulled over? - only because you have no control over the TSA agent.

Thanks everyone for your helpful hints. I intend to use all of them, except for the hint about not checking luggage which would be impossible for me to do considetring the length of this trip. Worst case scenerio is that I will have to spend some extra time in Miami if I miss my connection. Coming from New England in Feb., there are worse things in life that.

- and don't bring back any fresh fruits or vegetables.

While I was waiting for a checked bag at SFO a biggle sniffed out an apple that I picked up in a Hong Kong airport lounge. That got me sent to a line for an extra check.