On Tuesday college daughter is traveling from LAX to Santiago. Her flight arrives in Miami at midnight, she will have to claim her bags and find some place to wait til she can check them in again at 5AM Wednesday for the South American leg. (American Airlines will not check the bags all the way thru to Chile from LAX.) Does anybody have suggestions on the most comfortable place at the airport to wait overnight? Is MIA a bustling, 24 hour kind of place?

We were there at 4:30 AM for domestic flight in February. Nothing was open, not exactly bustling, but there were people around and I certainly felt safe. Our flight was at 6 AM and some places started to open between 5-5:30 (news stands, coffee).

Can you get your daughter a cheap airport room for a couple of hours?

Nothing will be open and it will be quite deserted.

I would not want to stay in MIA airport by myself at night. Not that it is unsafe, it is just kinda creepy.

There's a hotel right in one of the AA terminals (Terminal E) where your daughter can get a room.

Go to: www.miamiinternationalairport.org/

Click on the link for Miami Area Hotels then click on the airprot hotel link.

I agree that I would not care to be at MIA in the middle of the night by myself, either. It is safe, but rather deserted.

I also suggest getting a hotel room for a couple of hours and the Miami Airport Hotel (like provided by previous poster) would be the most convenient with her having just a few short hours.

I was able to get the AmeriSuites near the airport on Priceline. Check www.biddingfortravel.com for info on hotels in the area and possible Priceline bid points.

Thanks for the info. Daughter's trip originated in Hawaii (this is a marathon of flying!; she had a layover here in LA yesterday. I was not aware that she was planning a 5 hour overnight of sitting inside MIA waiting for her next flight and I was concerned (she was not, LOL.) I got her a Priceline room nearby.