Montego Bay Airport

Okay except for: 1) Customs 2) TSA equivalent. Custom agents are rude. I think they don't realize that the customer is the person bringing money to spend in Jamaica. I guess they don't want people to come back (or they just hate their job). I have traveled to many international ports and this was absolutely the worst! TSA Equivalents were equally rude and yelling at us if we did anything they didn't like. One lady forgot to take her shoes off and she was berated by the staff. I was trying to get myself put back together after going through and they yelled at me to just grab my stuff and get out of the way. These people are not nice or professional. This makes me think twice about going back.

Security officers were rude to my husband because he had 2 lighters they took one. Airport especially restrooms are dirty went to smoking lounge and was made to buy a drink in order to sit in there.

Having arrived from ATL we walked through several corridors. Then a Delta representative checked our immigration papers. When we finally got to immigration we were told that we would have to redo our papers because the Delta representative tore them. This took about 1 min. Fortunately the line had become shorter by then. Jamaican customs and agriculture was very efficient. After this a uniformed Delta representative was waiting for our party. On the way back the check in kiosks kept freezing so we had to get our boarding passes from the check in counters. We waited for 49 min in the line (only 3 counters were available). Terrible check in experience. One member of our party who was in a wheel chair had to wait for 20 min (sky priority line!). Security was very quick. Lots of restaurants in the main terminal. The airports Wi-Fi was rather slow however our gate was next to the Air Margaritaville restaurant which had very fast Wi-Fi.

Arrived at 3.30pm on Saturday. This is the busy time of the day so the wait for passport control was nearly 1.5 hours. Once through all okay. I suggest that if you have a choice try to book a flight that comes in after about 5.00pm.

Disgraceful lines at immigration. Took over 2 hours to get through. Then greeted by unwelcoming and suspicious immigration officers. Then a shambles at the luggage carousel. All bags had been removed and piled in a corner. Then to cap it all a long line at "nothing to declare" with very unfriendly customs officers. The whole dreadful experience took over 3 hours from touchdown after a 10 hour transatlantic flight. Avoid this airport at all costs.

Upon arrival you are directed to immigration where lines were painfully long (40mins) even though 20+ podiums were open. Once we cleared that you go to pick up your bags were it was another mess and the screens showing which carousel your bags should be on was incorrect. We were then directed by one of the staff to the correct carousel; at this point you have to search for your bags on the floor as they were all taken of the carousel. From this point on it was fairly fast as customs was a breeze. All in all airport is nice clean and has lots of shopping options. Just be prepared for the lines.

Arrival was very good with no queues at immigration. Luggage arrived quickly. Customs no problem. Good experience. Outside the terminal can be a bit intimidating especially if you do not know where you are going. Departure quite slow. Lots of security post Xmas Day incident. Bags searched at least twice. Boarding the Virgin Flight reminded me of my rugby days. Facilities airside OK good nachos and Red Strip on tap so was quite happy! Could see some issues if there are several arrivals at the same time but its Montego Bay so stay cool.

Expansion continues immigration on entry can be a pain. Make sure you are given a proper card on your flight. And fill it in before you leave the plane. You will be taken out of queue by an officer and sent over to a desk to do so. Even when you then have completed it he may hold you back as he lets other passengers through. Customs most times is poor - most people are in the 'nothing to declare' line - with most times only 2 officers on duty. Trying to go through "To declare' line to get around it does not work. Jamaican staff can be very inflexible. Rum prices are about the same as any tourist would pay at/near his hotel.

The airport has been expanded since my last trip to Jamaica. The older part has also been remodeled. Immigration was very easy with no line of any kind. There also was no line at customs. Was off the plane and out of the airport in about 20 min. They have added many new stores for those who like to shop when departing. The airport is neat and clean. Much improved from what it was in the past.

The main part of the airport building is rather new. The building is clean. The big problem is immigration on arrival. The line was very long and slow moving. Expect some wait if several planes arrive at the same time. Customs was quick. Lots of places to shop when you depart with prices that are not too far out of line for an airport (but few bargains). It was a hard place to exchange money when departing due to the location of the exchange booth. Food options were fine if a bit limited. The airport is much improved over my last time to Jamaica but it still needs some improvement.