Tier Point Run to Cancun in Jan 2014: Day 2 – Miami (MIA) to Cancun (CUN)

By Nige on Thu 02 Jan 2014 at 12:24
Type: Post
Story: Tier Point Run to Cancun in Jan 2014
Tags: American Airlines | Cancun | CUN | MIA | Miami

After sorting my return boarding cards, I decided it was time for a Starbucks – after all it was after 7am local time!

The closest one was near gate D32 and when I got there, there was a long queue. I didn’t know whether there was another security check prior to getting to the Cancun gate.

I assumed there would be and because there was only 40 mins before departure I decided to head to the gate. I followed signs for gates D40-D60 (my gate was D47), and it took me up to the Sky Train.

Fair enough I thought – must be taking me to a separate part of the terminal.

When I reached gate D47 there was no such additional security check so I checked where the closest Starbucks was and it was near gate D32!

So I wandered down the gates and of course then realised that there was never a need for me to go on the Sky Train – it just cut out a bit of a walk.

At that point I felt annoyed about the poor layout, signage and general lack of intuitiveness in the whole terminal.

Of course by the time I got back to Starbucks the queue was still really long, and “Team Starbucks” were not very productive, so throughput was low.

So no hope of me getting a coffee and back to the gate in time. If only I had stayed when I first got to Starbucks!

Anyway headed back to the gate and timed it perfectly. Straight on, first in the queue and settled in. Left on time, and arrived in Cancun about 10 mins early.

FAs were excellent – two of them – one a natural Mexican speaker. Just got a very nice biscuit and was asked a number of times about drinks etc. Flight only lasted about 1 hour 20 mins or so, so nothing much to deal with.

Couple of shots arriving over Mexico:

Customs and immigration forms were new to me, and it wasn’t until much later that I realised I didn’t need to fill in the “Immigration Form No, or Card No”.

When I got to Passport Control, we had to wake them up – it must have been their siesta or something.

Anyway had a good laugh with the Immigration officer who like others thought I was crazy. Anyway was through in no time at all, and back into the security line for departures. This was a little slower than I hoped but only held me up by about 15 mins.

Follow the whole story here: Tier Point Run to Cancun in Jan 2014