San Juan to Miami to Heathrow - do I have time to connect in Miami

[katieemily]

I have booked flights back from Puerto Rico to Heathrow via Miami through Princess who have chosen to use BA (who will use American for the first leg). The plane lands in Miami at 6-35 pm (hopefully) and the flight to Heathrow leaves 2 hours 15 minutes later. BA state that the check-in desk at Miami closes two hours before scheduled take off, which leaves 15 minutes to get from one terminal to the other, collect/check baggage and clear customs/immigration. This seems to me to be unlikely, or am I missing something. Any advice would be welcome, as we fly out later this week.

John

[6rugrats]

If you have to pick up bags, clear customs and get to another terminal, 15 minutes is absolutely not enough time in MIA.

[OVgirl]

My understanding is that you will go through US immigration in San Juan. Do you have one ticket that takes you all the way? Then your luggage will be checked straight through to Heathrow.

[wrp96]

You have plenty of time. You don't have to go through customs/immigration in Miami as you will be coming from another US destination. You shouldn't have to recheck in at Miami. AA will check your bags all the way through to Heathrow.

[fbgd]

The desks will not close 2hrs before departure for a BA flight ex-MIA. That's ridiculous.

 

You'll be fine. I'm not sure why people think you'll need to go through immigration and customs at MIA!

 

I'm not 100% sure if AA can print your BA boarding pass (they use different GDS so probably not) so you might need to go to the gate, or the lounge before your BA flight to get a new one. If so have your baggage receipts from San Juan to hand.

[katieemily]

Thanks for all the helpful responses. It is now a lot clearer. It would seem that our bags are cleared all the way from SJU to LHR. I should get two boarding passes if I check in on-line 24 hours in advance. As my bags will then be on the second plane, the 2 hours last desk closure that BA stipulate (yes, it does seem ridiculous) will mean that they will have to take my bags off the plane if I am too delayed making the flight, which they won't be keen to do, so all being well we should be OK.

Thanks again.

John

[Globaliser]

I should get two boarding passes if I check in on-line 24 hours in advance.

You should be able to get a BA boarding pass for your second flight if you can check-in online for that flight 24 hours before departure. (That may be 24 hours before the departure of the BA flight, rather than 24 hours before the departure of the AA flight, but I don't know.) However, unless you can check-in online with AA for the AA flight, you may have to get the AA boarding pass at the airport. In any case, AA should be able to print both the AA and BA boarding passes when you check-in then, as you're making a true connection at MIA (on one booking and one ticket, by the sounds of things).

 

And printing your own boarding pass is optional with the BA online check-in system, anyway. I almost never print my own boarding pass when I check-in online. I prefer to collect it at the aiport. The joy of e-tickets is in not having to take any paper with you to the airport, no faffing around clutching tickets, printouts or other documents in your hand. So the idea of printing my own boarding pass at home seems to me to be a retrograde step.

... the 2 hours last desk closure that BA stipulate (yes, it does seem ridiculous) ...

I think that check-in at MIA closes something like 45 minutes before departure.

 

I'd be surprised if BA actually suggests that check-in at the airport closes two hours before departure. IIRC, online check-in closes two hours before departure for flights departing from US airports, but that still leaves you with the option of checking-in later at the airport. And airlines often recommend that you arrive at the airport at least two hours before departure if you need to check-in there. So this may be the source of confusion.

[katieemily]

I'd be surprised if BA actually suggests that check-in at the airport closes two hours before departure. IIRC, online check-in closes two hours before departure for flights departing from US airports, but that still leaves you with the option of checking-in later at the airport. And airlines often recommend that you arrive at the airport at least two hours before departure if you need to check-in there. So this may be the source of confusion.

 

I think you have illuminated the problem. My flights itinerary from BA for SJU to MIA to LHR states that:

Check In

# To get the best choice of seats, check in on ba.com. Online Check-in opens 24 hours before departure and closes 1 hour before departure.

# If you have used ba.com or Self-Service check in checked baggage should be taken to Fast Bag Drop at dedicated BA Check-in Desk which closes 90 minutes before departure.

# "Airport check in desks open 3 hours and 45 minutes before departure and closes 2 hours before departure".

It is difficult to imagine a more confusing set of instructions. Fortunately, I believe that by checking in online and by having a through connection from US cities and then LHR, it will not matter.

We shall see.

John

[Globaliser]

Coincidentally, I found some more information about this in another place - see this thread. That is likely to be more accurate than my initial reaction, as it contains real experiences.

 

The "two hours" is almost certainly a scare tactic, largely because most passengers don't understand why "check-in closing time" means. I've seen this page on the BA website, which says:-

Customers traveling in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus are requested to check in two hours prior to the scheduled departure time of their international British Airways flight.

I suspect that too many economy passengers would, if told that check-in closes 45 minutes before departure, regard that as a target time at which to aim to arrive at the airport, rather than understanding that that is a final deadline.

[katieemily]

Coincidentally, I found some more information about this in another place - see this thread. That is likely to be more accurate than my initial reaction, as it contains real experiences.

 

The "two hours" is almost certainly a scare tactic, largely because most passengers don't understand why "check-in closing time" means. I've seen this page on the BA website, which says:-I suspect that too many economy passengers would, if told that check-in closes 45 minutes before departure, regard that as a target time at which to aim to arrive at the airport, rather than understanding that that is a final deadline.

The info on the thread was most interesting. I would have blithely booked seating on-line from the ship for the BA MIA to LHR leg, but it would seem that would be big mistake.

Not surprisingly initially BA were telling me to book seats on line but now are telling me to check-in at MIA airport. I have asked for clarification but each response seems to be extracted as a nearest response to their standard FAQs so I never get a definitive response. I also suspect that the people who answer my e-mails are from an off-shore call centre and don't really understand the questions.

Thanks again for all your help. I suspect it would have all worked out OK if I just let it happen, but I don't like getting into situations where I can't get out of and I could have avoided with a little preparation. I certainly would have risked AA screwing up my return flight.

John

[Globaliser]

The info on the thread was most interesting. I would have blithely booked seating on-line from the ship for the BA MIA to LHR leg, but it would seem that would be big mistake.

Based on the information on that thread, personally I would still OLCI for the BA flight (after trying - but probably failing - to OLCI for both), and then make sure to print a boarding pass. It seems that the difficulty lies in getting AA to print a boarding pass for the second flight if you have OLCId but not printed a boarding pass. AA should be able to through-check your bags in any event, but it is always a good idea to make sure that the second airline gets the bag tag numbers so that they can be entered against your booking in their record.