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Aruba flight to U.S.--where do you clear Customs and Immigration?

Jennie

Jennie

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In helping a friend plan a trip from NYC to Aruba in January 2007, with a 3 week "stopover" in Miami on the way back, the fare runs close to $800. on the major airlines.

But if they purchase a one way ticket on JetBlue from JFK to Aruba, the cost is less than $150. including all taxes and fees.

A one way non-stop return flight from Aruba to Miami on American Airlines is $550. !!!! But a one way ticket from Aruba to NY is $348.. The latter itinerary would place them on the exact same plane used for the $550. ticket, with a change of planes in Miami to proceed onward to NYC.

Does anyone know at what point people returning from Aruba to the U.S. go through Customs and Immigration? If they purchased the cheaper Aruba to JFK ticket, would they be able to reclaim their luggage in Miami, go through Customs and Immigration, and then just leave the airport and not use the Miami to JFK portion of the tickets? They are both native born U.S. citizens with valid US passports.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on the subject.
 
They process customs at their first port of entry into the US, which will be Miami. So, they'll clear immigration and collect their checked luggage, clear customs before taking any onward transport. They can "miss" their NYC flight without any problems.

Why not book the flights with a stopover in Miami? The end destination is still NYC. Have you priced that yet? This would price as a multi-city itinerary. A travel agent should have no problem doing this on multiple carriers.

BTW, even domestically, if you ever want to collect your bags at a connecting point, just have the airline "stop" the bag there. They'll print a different luggage tag out, showing the desired point as where the bags get off. Business people do this to collect materials they check for meetings along their routes of travel, then re-check the bags in for onward travel later that day/week, etc. It doesn't matter what the "reason" is; however, don't tell an agent you're walking away from a flight segment ;)

Pat
 
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If your flight is a direct flight to the United States, you will clear US Immigration and Customs at the airport in Aruba.

Did a search on Google and found this site: http://www.orrin.org/aruba/

Towards the bottom of the page is a section called "Airport Notes", check it out.
 
Bob is correct. If you are flying direct into any US city, you will clean customs and immigration at the Aruba airport before departure.
 
chrisnwillie said:
Bob is correct. If you are flying direct into any US city, you will clean customs and immigration at the Aruba airport before departure.
Click to expand...

Sorry chrisnwillie, could not resist the highlighted typo ;)
 
Flying Aruba-Charlotte, we cleared customs in Aruba (VERY quickly). Small line with lots of people working. Might not be quite as easy during prime season, but it really was nice.

BTW, I understand that SXM is considering the same setup for the new terminal. That would be great!

Tom
 
camachinist said:
Why not book the flights with a stopover in Miami? The end destination is still NYC. Have you priced that yet? This would price as a multi-city itinerary. A travel agent should have no problem doing this on multiple carriers.Pat
Click to expand...

They have credit with JetBlue that must be used by the middle of March 2007. It will cover the one way return to NY from Florida (as well as the trip down to Aruba from NYC). They prefer to fly home from West Palm Beach which is much closer than Miami to where they are staying. This is an energetic couple their 80's but health problems are always a concern.They have the JetBlue credit due to cancelled flights earlier this year because of a health emergency.

If they need to return earlier, JetBlue's policies are so much better than the traditional airlines. There is only a $25. change fee (vs. $100 or more on AA, Continental, etc...) and often times they will waive the fee if there is a compelling reason. And one way fares on Jet Blue are no higher than if a round-trip ticket is purchased.
 
Thank you all for the great information and advice. When one has TUG buddies, who needs Google? ;)
 
You clear customs before departing in Aruba. Allow PLENTY of time for this. It took about 2 hours in a peak time-season (Easter) for me. I allowed three hours at that time. Killed about half an hour shopping duty-free.

Beags
 
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