I could not believe the chaos at the American Airlines check-in counters in Miami this past weekend!

Getting to the airport 3 hours early on Saturday, we found that the American check-in areas were mobbed. Most of the rest of the airline counters were quiet, but there were many hundreds, probably thousands, of passengers trying to figure out what to do to get checked in with AA.

There was no signage to help people sort out what was what, and lines were at best "fluid." After asking three or four different AA agents (who were overwhelmed but pleasant), we finally figured out that the best approach was to find an international check-in electronic kiosk that worked (some didn't). The kiosks were hidden in a mass of people milling around, so it took awhile to find them, figure out which ones were for international flights and which ones actually worked.

Then, it took a few minutes to figure out that once you checked in electronically, you waited in a crowd of people, many speaking languages other than English or Spanish, for American agents to print out your luggage tags and yell out your name, or at least your flight destination. This is in a crowd of dozens of people all milling about and shouting.

No, the agents who printed out the baggage tags didn't take your bags. You had to wait, in our case about 30 minutes, in another series of lines (I use the term loosely, as these lines appeared and disappeared randomly) to give a different agent the bags. Then, the bags were collected and packed up on a huge cart and wheeled somewhere, right through the middle of the terminal, I assume to a conveyer belt somewhere.

After that, you then had to go to another line to go through security. Happily, the security line was actually pretty short, in part because everybody was still waiting at various American Air counters trying to get checked in.

I've flown through Miami many times, but it's been several years since starting a trip at Miami. I would think that by starting your trip elsewhere you'd save some of the hassle of trying to check bags in Miami, (though not necessarily, given the procedures at MIA) but the Miami airport, and in particular the American section -- American dominates the airport, with its extensive service to Central and South America -- offer a truly chaotic, Third World experience.

I feel sorry for anyone who is not fluent in Spanish and/or English trying to negotiate this mess, or indeed for anyone who is a little shy about asking for help.

It's hard to believe that a huge international company like American couldn't do a better job at one of their main hubs.

I also imagine that this chaotic system for check-in and checking baggage means that the security system is potentially vulnerable. Hundreds of people were just walking back and forth, pushing and shoving, trying to figure out what to do, while huge piles of luggage were being moved right through the crowds by airline employees.

I've heard many people say, "I'll never fly through Miami again," but until this past weekend I didn't really know what they meant.

It certainly is a terrible introduction to the U.S. for international visitors flying through or from Miami.

True, it was Labor Day weekend, but I'm told American Air at Miami International is often like it was last weekend.

It was truly an incredible experience in inefficiency and incompetence, not so much by front-line American Air staff, who were trying their best, but by American Air management.

--Lan Sluder

My friend always believed the story that money just fall from the sky in the US. So he eventually saved enough money to make the move up to New York and experience this wonderland and get right to work at collecting fallen money. His first stop was Miami and he ended up missing his connection and had to stay overnight. It was a rough day on him. Upon leaving the airport he noticed a crisp C-note floating around on the curb where the shuttles pick you up. Being tired and all, he said to himself, "I reeeally tiyad mon, tomorrow I wah staht wuk". He never found another C-note again!

One thing I learned in life. NEVER, NEVER, EVER travel through Miami international airport on the Saturday.

Last year I flew in and out of Miami on my way to Panama. I flew back to Miami on the day they banned liquids. It was a mob scene, but not as problematic as Lan went through. I drank away my layover, so no problems. I even had Joe Montana and his family on my American flight back to SFO. LOL

I went through MIA for an international flight the Monday after 9/11. Dear God what a mess. I won't even begin to detail some of the crap I went through.

No matter where I travel, if it goes through MIA I ain't going.I ran into the same thing Lan Did the weekend after this past Thanksgiving. Never Again!!!!
Luckily to get to Belize I can now fly direct from Charlotte.

The last (and I do mean the LAST) time I went through Miami I went totally ballistic. I can’t remember exactly what the delay was because I was so outraged about the lack of security around the checked in luggage.
For some reason all the luggage was stacked in a corner, not coming down a conveyer belt. There was absolutely no security and people were just walking up and taking bags. When I found an agent and reported this I got a look like “who cares?”
I traveled with a lot of luggage, all my dive equipment plus underwater cameras, and it was very difficult for me to handle all this by myself. OHYEAH, there were no carts available! I was overjoyed when American started coming here through Dallas.

Some of these problems seem to belong to the employees of the terminal – not the airlines.

Scuba, I agree - probably employees at airport contribute to the mess in Miami. AA terminal in Dallas in fantastic. I thought Houston was worse than Miami when I had to go through that airport. Traffic on freeways and crazy drivers bother me much more than Miami Airport. I can suck it up, as long as I get to my destination safely.

I for one am glad that I'm only connecting through Miami in a couple of weeks on my way to Turks. On the way back, I'll go through customs at JFK. Laurie and I are connecting through ATL on our way to Dominican Republic. Miami, is so not on my list any more.

I reported once before that it had taken me 7 hours to clear incoming formalities at Miami when all I wanted to do was transfer to another flight out of the USA.

I imagine the worst deal would be to arrive in Miami on a BA flight. Combine the general chaos of MIA with the aggressiveness of the immigation officers there, the reputation of the baggage handlers there as being the most dishonest at any major airport anywhere in the world, and the confirmed record of BA in losing 40% of all baggage checked with them. A true nightmare.

Pedro2, this is why I have been taking carry-on only these days and either do laundry or buy a few things when I'm traveling.

what is BA?

BA - British Airways.....great service, better business class, but much pricier than AA (American Airlines).

We flew from Paris to Miami mid-week and it was absolute hell! It was totally packed with pushing and shoving, no luggage carts...lots and lots and lots of foreigners.

Miami is overdue for a major renovation for their customs and immigration arrivals.

Fly to or through Dallas, Raleigh-Durham, or even Chicago - much easier.....

Gela.
Your Outbound through Mia will be fine, I'm happy to read that your inbound is through JFK. It will be a Hassle there, but nowhere near the MIA Nightmare. As I stated in an earlier post, If it's through MIA "I ain"t going". The Trip to SP ( where you, Laurie , Becky & I met) was a absolute nightmare on the return leg.NEVER again!!!!
Have fun in the Turks, and The D.R. I'm not jealous. Yeah Right!!
Next trip for us, after Sp in NOv and Feb 2008 is N. Ireland and Scotland.. see ya there LOL!!

Miami Airport, walk 10 miles to connect gates, and I love the little elevator 100's of passengers try to use coming up from the Intl. arrival luggage drop off area.
To make matters worse, the last time I was there we waited 45 minutes on the tarmac for non other than "Air Force One" to lift off. The "Decider" was down trying to rig, I mean garner votes, for his re-election.
You never have an RPG in your carry on when you need it...

LOL!! Reaper.. NOW that obsevation could get you banned from the Texas ranch invite at Christmas and could cause the Secret Service to come a knocking on your door.
Stop by my place on your next trip.. RPG's are free.

Why on earth don't US airports have transit areas for people arriving from one country and leaving for another? A secure place where they're held without the need for immigration or customs processing. They're almost universal at major airports in the rest of the world.

Well, I travel through Miami almost everytime I go to the US. The airport's not great but I guess my idea of nightmare and others must be very, very different.

When I travel internationally I have my mind set that not everything will go my way, all of the time, in perfect flow and harmony. Knowing that going in, and being prepared to take a lot of deep breaths and a "no worries" approach has truly held me in good steed.

And by the way, I travel with small children.

So, look at Miami airport as a means to an end. It's your gateway to getting to Belize (or other great destination.)

The US used to have transit lounges but these were shut down after the 9/11 attacks. Now if you want to go to or through the US you need to be prepared for extra scrutiny, long lines and possibly longer than expected delays and connection times.

I have found the airport staff to be quite nice and the immigration officers are usually a treat. Occasionally we have been interviewed by gruff officers, but most are nice and chatty and compassionate.

Deep breath, calm down, be nice, polite and patient - it makes for a much better experience. If you try this method and still find that you have nightmare experiences then be sure and post them here! Everybody loves a good story.

ps. I don't drink alcohol or tranquilizers during travel. Ha ha.

Orlando International airport is a dream! Now they have their act together when it comes to security lines and keeping you shuffling along instead of standing still. And the shopping!

If your going to be stuck in an airport - this is a good one.

Um... I was stuck at the Orlando airport, last week in fact, for 9 hours... you got Booger King, Starbucks or some other undesirable place for eats. Blah

Not to sell "my" airport but if you've come through Houston within the last 2 years, you will see that the customs section of the airport is AMAZING (comparably speaking) in my opinion. You wait in the line not more that about 10 minutes. It's literally painless and I have done it more than about 12 or so times (searching for passport to verify...) in the last two years. The only legitimate complaint I can understand about the Houston airport is that it is the godforsaken biggest thing! If you have to walk from one terminal to the next, or even one side of Terminal E to the other, it's quite the walk... but that just gives us more options on places to fly!!!

In Houston, you might look for the tram/train to get from one term to the next.

Never been to MIA... sounds too painful.

TQ, you're so right about Houston . . . customs is a breeze, but there are whole countries smaller than that place!!

lol... this is true KC! But it's very nice to get lucky and have your gates close together, or within the same terminal... it happens!

I think back to Amsterdam when I had to haul ASS from one gate to another. They were literally on opposite sides of the airport... that was definitely a memorable experience that I laugh about now.

Customs in Dallas is very organized. I've never had a line. they seem to anticipate the mob and have many stalls open. Only problem is long walk (for others). Since my knee injury I am wheel chaired right along.

Everybody has an airport story and a pet peeve airport. I love Sacramento airport - the best and easiest I have ever been in, right in my own backyard. Pack patience and enjoy the ride.

Oh boo hooo, I have to wait with other people in an airport! Oh tither! What to do?! I WANT TO GET THERE NOW!!!!!!!!!

1) Charter your own jet
2) Rent a bunk on the banana barge (very short que's)
3) Stay home and watch the Discovery Channel

Seriously though, it's usually some smuck needing special attention or something!

Okay, SIN, I don't even want to know where that photo came from!

I have been told Houston is now a great airport to pass through and I am seriously considering it as a destination gateway for one of my future trips.

However, remember that many of us travelers are not US citizens - and when you are a visitor to the US you have a few extra hoops to jump through when you first arrive. Many of friends are ALWAYS pulled into the back room for extra interviews.

TQ I can hardly believe you didn't enjoy any of the shops in MCO. Then again when you live in the US it can all be quite hohummm. For those of us that permanently live in Belize, any shopping in a clean a/c environment where there is some semblance of choice is just awe inspiring.

What a difference in cultures.

Like HEB!!!

Looks like the beef delivery for Sun Up.

Maybe a true story??


An award should go to the Westjet gate attendant in Kelowna for being smart and funny, while making her point, when confronted with a passenger who probably deserved to fly as cargo.

A crowded flight was cancelled after Westjet's 767s had been withdrawn from service. A single attendant was re-booking a long line of inconvenienced travellers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this flight and it HAS to be FIRST CLASS".

The attendant replied, "I'm sorry, sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but I've got to help these people first, and I'm sure we'll be able to work something out."

The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?"

Without hesitating, the attendant smiled and grabbed her public address microphone: "May I have your attention please; may I have your attention please", she began - her voice heard clearly throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at Gate 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to Gate 14."

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the attendant, gritted his teeth and said, "F... You!"

Without flinching, she smiled and said, (I love this bit) "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to get in line for that too

OMG. LOL! At first, I thought the lady in the pic above was holding a blow torch.

I love travelling through the Houston airport. Yes, I will agree there can be a lot of walking when the gates aren't close, but I found Chicago to be worse. Though Chicago did have those cool automatic toilet seat covers.

i go thru dallas and houston and miami and the first two are always fine and miami is always crazy

I absolutely LOVE the TACA baggage check-in area in Houston!

Wonderful story, Amanda!

I've travelled through Charlotte a few times when coming to Belize and I've always found it a very pleasant experience.

TQ - Houston sounds like Houston is like DFW - AA has got that down well. The new International Terminal is great - customs/immigration takes 10 minutes and the time you spend really is just getting to the proper terminal for your connecting flight. I did get stuck on the SkyLink my last trip coming back from Zurich. It stopped - computer went down. 20 minutes later, we managed to get to a stop and we had to get off and head in the other direction the long way around.

My beef with MIA is that the flights all see to come in at exactly the same time (stagger them a half hour - that would help) and it takes me nearly an hour to retrieve my luggage for say a minute to then recheck them. It's why I now try to figure out how to take carry-on only. But then, there is no guarantee you will be allowed your legal carry-on, due to others who take advantage of the system.

Well, all in all, it's a good problem to have - so many people in the world don't get to travel like we are able to.

That's good to know... Zurick is nice. Hey, Gela you should be here in Houston tonight.

...that being said, I did enjoy a nice Cuban Sandwich at a concourse resturant in Miami. The bread had a crunchy crust, moist inside...plenty of meat and cheese.

Before my last trip to AC I went shopping and found a 36" long soft nylon "carry-on" that I could get my fly rod and flys and 4 days worth of clean sox in. So Last Saturday I printed out an e-ticket and boarding passes for the flights from MCI>DIA>BZE. When I boarded Sunday AM in Kansas City I just stuffed the bag with fly rod and clean sox in the overhead. NO CHECK-IN. Did the same on the way back, except the sox were dirty by then.

We have flown AA twice outside of the U.S. from Miami and so far no problems except I have a lot of metal in me so it is always an exiting time for me and entertaining for watchers when security has me over to the side with hands in the air.