Miami Airport

Nightmare. Arrived at 0635 for a 0800 NW flight to MDW via DTW- hundreds in line. Self- service kiosk could not provide boarding pass (tried all 3 methods of accessing) with instruction to "see an agent". No airline personnel were available to help passengers (there were many with the same problem with kiosk) only airport personnel ; one of whom just shrugged and walked away. Angry very vocal crowd! We waited 4.5 hours in line obviously missed flight. We were rebooked on a 1425 flight to ORD. Happy to get out of Miami; however since my car was at MDW I had to pay $16. bus fare to MDW and then a 2 hr drive to my home in Michigan. Not one Delta or NW employee could explain the problem. There did not appear to be any weather delays or cancellations posted on monitors. I cannot understand why this airport checks in international passengers as well as domestic passengers in the same lines. Entire families traveling to South America or Asia needed translators which of course meant all others had to wait until a translator could be found. Unbelievable. Another customer in line with me wanted only to check his bag - he had a boarding pass. He said he was at airport at 0616 for 0715 flight and only wanted to check his bag. Curbside checkin was a disaster with long lines and then closing down so passengers then had to go inside and get at end of long long lines there. ORD and MDW work in a professional efficient courteous way. Never will I go near Miami airport again. Sad thing is that no one could or would assist passengers and I truly doubt corporate Delta could care.

Great improvements at MIA with the opening of the new South and North Terminals - great shopping stores food and beverage and services. Short security lines good signage and pleasant employees. Overall great improvement at MIA since three years ago.

Had to change planes in both directions on an international trip. The airport appears to be in a constant state of construction with areas blocked off at various locations. Waiting areas at the gates were rather small and overflowing with people. Limited shopping after passing thru security. Food selection was slightly better and I could not find a single hamburger stand. On the return flight I had to go thru customs and passport control. After a long walk to passport control there were nothing but long lines (10 to 20 deep). Baggage claim was also packed and again with long lines. I will try to avoid MIA in the future if at all possible.

On arrival short queues 4/5 long at non-US desks but staff directed people to US citizen desks as some of these were free. Immigration staff unsmiling but not unpleasant and through customs in no time at all. On departure no queues at all at security and AA lounge quite pleasant to pass an hour in. Not many shops airside but reasonable eating facilities.

I was not looking forward to arriving at Miami Airport as an international passenger. However I was pleasantly surprised with the very short queue at immigration and baggage claim and was through both formalities in under 30 mins. It look over twice that time to get the hire car. Return was also easy with only a short queue for security etc

I live in Miami and use MIA about once a month. It's average for US airports. Confusing signage. Some modern areas. Some from the 1970s / 80's. Just OK retail and amenities. That said travelers - especially transit passengers and those originating at MIA - beware. On two of the last seven trips I've taken out of MIA I have had items pilfered from my luggage. My advice: Do not check any luggage through MIA. Otherwise avoid this airport and transit through Spain. LGW LHR or CDG if you are going to Latin America from Europe or maybe ATL DFW or JFK if you must use a US airport.

Landed internationally in Miami on June 6. Weather was bad and we missed every connection. Customs for US citizens went fairly quickly but rebooking of luggage was a nightmare due to missed connections. AA staff were highly unmotivated and complained about how long they had to work that day. Like we wanted to sit aound for 10 hours. Go upstairs to check in and rebook you will save yourself a lot of time. Locals told us never to connect in Miami in June and July. AA terminal was a dump with limited restaurants other than self service food lines. Miami airport makes Chicago's O'Hare look great!

I transited in MIA from Santo Domingo en route to LAX and if the walk through a maze of passages and stairs and escalators from the plane to immigration was more than 1.5 kilometres and then you hit a queue going at a snails pace everyone getting more tired and frustrated before the disjointed questions finger prints and fotos and that is before another sizable walk to the luggage carousels. Returning was just as bad and from concourse D51 to E33 takes a good 25 minutes walking through crowds of jostling people without the assistance of electric walk ways and just because your plane lands a little early do not think you will be offloading earlier as there are always are delays waiting for a tow truck. I do not understand how an airport can be so bad when most of it seems to be relatively new

This was the first time I have ever flown into the Miami airport as an international passenger and although I've never had much good to say about MIA from a domestic standpoint for international travel it is even worse. Upon arrival from France we headed off for a long walk to the customs and immigration area of the airport. However once we arrived we were held at the bottom of a staircase while they got their staff ready for us. Once inside things moved quite quickly though I've never been asked so many random questions by immigration. (Nor have I ever run into such unfriendly immigration agents.) Instructions for where to go and what to do with your bags for continuing flights was totally lacking. Fortunately a TSA agent walked by as we were being given instructions and he told us to just follow him. (Following the blue line in the floor was fine expect that you had to drop your bags off to be x-rayed about mid-way on the blue line.) At least this time our connecting flight wasn't a 45 minute walk. Bottom line considering that MIA has been under construction since 2004 it seems like they could have done a much better job with it.

MIA is not a passenger-friendly airport. I usually fly in and out of MIA on domestic flights - only if I cannot avoid it. Do not consider flying into this airport unless you can handle the minimum 15-20 minute hike from the security screening area to your gate. The later your flight arrives or departs at MIA the further your gate will be from the exit to the terminal. If you have the misfortune of arriving before 7am or after 10pm the stores will be closed the fast food and sit-down restaurants are all closed and you will walk past seemingly miles of empty gates to get to the terminal or your gate. There are no moving sidewalks in the concourse areas so be prepared to hike. If you are disabled by all means try to avoid this airport at all costs. The newer terminals are pleasant to look at but uncomfortable to navigate to. MIA is a rabbit's warren of zig-zagging white wallboard mazes with poor signage and a lack of decent food service or practical traveler shops. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to the airport terminal or concourse layout and you usually must exit one concourse and recheck through security to get to another. Even if you are headed in the right direction you will need good walking shoes. MIA is laid out for the administrators security and airlines benefit - not the passengers. The taxi cab drivers are rude if you don't have too far to go from the airport and parking at the Economy Park and Ride is an adventure unto itself with a lack of passenger clearly marked pickup/drop-off areas. Good luck finding your way around this airport. With all the money that has been spent the only improvements I've been able to discern have been cosmetic. It is still the worst airport in terms of passenger experience I have ever used and continues to frustrate me both as a passenger and resident of Miami.