# Layover at Benito Juarez International



## TurtleToo (Aug 23, 2013)

I am booking a flight from Boston, MA to Guadalajara that arrives in Mexico City at 4:45 a.m. There are several options for departure times for the Mexico City to Guadalajara leg. For those of you with experience flying into Mexico, what is the minimum time you recommend between flights? I don't know how much time I will need once I arrive at [Benito] Juarez International. There are options of 1 hour and 30 minutes; 2 hours and 25minutes; and on up to about 6 hours. 

My best guess is that I should allow at least two hours, but that is just a guess. Does anyone have more informed advice?

Thanks, 
TT lane:


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

TurtleToo said:


> I am booking a flight from Boston, MA to Guadalajara that arrives in Mexico City at 4:45 a.m. There are several options for departure times for the Mexico City to Guadalajara leg. For those of you with experience flying into Mexico, what is the minimum time you recommend between flights? I don't know how much time I will need once I arrive at Juarez International. There are options of 1 hour and 30 minutes; 2 hours and 25minutes; and on up to about 6 hours.
> 
> My best guess is that I should allow at least two hours, but that is just a guess. Does anyone have more informed advice?
> 
> ...


I fly into the Mexico City airport fairly often (from Canada). I’m generally through Immigration, luggage pickup and customs within an hour or less, often less than 1/2 hr. I am usually not catching another flight, as I take a bus to our town. When I recently did have a connecting flight, after Immigration I picked up my luggage, went through Customs with it, then put my luggage at a drop off point (just past Customs) for the next flight, then had to go back through security for my next flight. To be on the safe side I would leave 2 hrs. If it’s a high volume time around Christmas, I would leave 3 hours. Which Terminal will you be flying in to? Also check if the second leg of your journey is in the same terminal. There is a train that will take you between terminals, but of course this will add more time to your schedule.

Addendum: given that you are arriving at 4:45 am, there likely won’t be a high volume of travellers. I’m sure 2 hrs should be plenty of time. When I had to catch a connecting flight, the biggest delay was getting back through security, mainly because I had a large family ahead of me that clearly were not used to travelling by plane and hadn’t read the fine print about what is allowed in carry on luggage, weight and size issues as well. The security guard didn’t want me to switch lines, but I finally did anyway, even though that meant a more detailed inspection which was no big deal and faster than waiting for the extended family to be processed.


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## UrbanMan (Jun 18, 2015)

In case you don't know, there are many direct flights from Dallas or Houston, to GDL. Possibly it might be easier to have your layover before getting to Mx (Boston, to Houston or Dallas, then to GDL).


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

TurtleToo said:


> I am booking a flight from Boston, MA to Guadalajara that arrives in Mexico City at 4:45 a.m. There are several options for departure times for the Mexico City to Guadalajara leg. For those of you with experience flying into Mexico, what is the minimum time you recommend between flights? I don't know how much time I will need once I arrive at [Benito] Juarez International. There are options of 1 hour and 30 minutes; 2 hours and 25minutes; and on up to about 6 hours.
> 
> My best guess is that I should allow at least two hours, but that is just a guess. Does anyone have more informed advice?
> 
> ...


I would say two hours would be okay if there are no delays. I flew into Mexico City from Amsterdam recently. I had a two hour connection, but the flight into Mexico City was delayed leaving me one hour to change planes. There was no line at immigration for citizens (I have dual citizenship) and I had no checked luggage. I had to wait 15 minutes for the train between terminals since the Guadalajara flight leaves from a different terminal and the train between terminals runs infrequently. I got on the connecting flight about 5 minutes before it was supposed to leave. 

If I had had to wait in the tourist line at immigration or wait for luggage before going through customs. I would not have made it. My daughter has had this same connection coming to Mexico a couple of times. The first time she did not make it and the second time she did.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

You don't say whether you are checking bags, and to me that makes a big difference. I don't have experience with that airport, but if you are going to have to clear customs/immigration and then check a bag for the last leg, I'd say you want to have at least about an hour before your flight from the time you recheck your bag(s), or else you risk having them miss the flight. 

With a checked bag on both flights, I'd definitely go for the 2 1/2 hour layover. They might be slow/sleepy/not yet all there to unload the plane at that hour and you might spend half an hour standing around in luggage claim waiting on your bag before you can clear customs. If that doesn't prove enough, you aren't going to be stranded because there are all those later flights you can get onto.

If I didn't have a checked bag (rollaboard only), I might go for the 1 1/2 hour layover, figuring I had a small chance of missing it and ending up on the later flight anyway but no big problem if that happens since all your stuff is in your possession the whole time.

When I was younger I did a lot of running through airports, and missed a flight or two also, but as I got older I got tired of the stress and less impatient with sitting around waiting. Now I hope I never have to do the OJ Simpson routine again (referring to the old Hertz commercials where he ran through airports jumping over luggage carts with bags in hand wearing a suit and tie).


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## TurtleToo (Aug 23, 2013)

Thank you, Ojos, UrbanMan, TG, and Eastwind!



> What terminal will you be flying into?


I don't know yet. The carrier for the flight I described is Aeromexico for both legs, so I was hoping this would mean no change of terminal. Another possibility I've looked at has Volaris, Interjet, or Viva Aerobus as the carrier for the second leg. But I was guessing that this would probably involve a change of terminals--from one with international arrivals, to one with smaller domestic carriers. 



> In case you don't know, there are many direct flights from Dallas or Houston, to GDL. Possibly it might be easier to have your layover before getting to Mx (Boston, to Houston or Dallas, then to GDL).


I did wonder if it wouldn't be better to have a layover in a US city, and not have to deal with immigration, customs, or potential language difficulties until my final stop, when time would not be an issue.

But I am limited in choices by my bus/train travel to Boston. I won't arrive at Logan Airport in Boston until 1:30 p.m., so my two options are to depart early enough to get me to Guadalajara that night (11:30ish), or to leave Boston late that night, arriving in the early morning. If I want to layover in a US city, I would arrive in Guadalajara at 11:30 p.m. I would do that if there were a hotel located right at the airport (as there are at some airports.) But the closest hotels are 2.6 miles or more away, and I was weighing the disadvantages of such a late night arrival, arranging transportation and check-in at 1:00 or so in the morning.



> You don't say whether you are checking bags, and to me that makes a big difference.


My plan has been to travel with only a carry-on bag. Now that I am packing, however, reality is hitting hard! Much harder than I thought it would!

lane:


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

This is a web page that tells you which airline uses which terminal. There is a shuttle bus running between terminals. Last time I used it, about a year ago, it cost 14 pesos. There’s also an elevated tram, which starts at 5:00 am.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Aeromexico flies out of Terminal 2, both international and national flights. Interjet is Terminal 1 (both domestic and international). 

The elevated shuttle train between terminals is easy to take, comfortable, fast and free, and runs frequently (every several minutes). Only passengers with boarding passes or confirmed airline tickets, as well as the flight crews, are allowed to use the train. 

I would not fret at all about changing planes in Mexico rather than the US. I quite like the Mexico City airport, myself. Probably because when I arrive it’s like, “YAY! I’m back in Mexico.” And when I am leaving, as long as I’m in the airport I’m still in Mexico. 

I also personally find that although the airport in Mexico City is large and busy, it usually feels a lot less stressful than most of the airports I’ve been through in the US, (except for really small airports like Wichita, KS and Lincoln or Omaha, Nebraska). However, when we were catching an Interjet flight to Cancun from CDMX, it was pretty _loco_.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

ojosazules11 said:


> Aeromexico flies out of Terminal 2, both international and national flights. Interjet is Terminal 1 (both domestic and international).
> 
> The elevated shuttle train between terminals is easy to take, comfortable, fast and free, and runs frequently (every several minutes). Only passengers with boarding passes or confirmed airline tickets, as well as the flight crews, are allowed to use the train.
> 
> ...


The last time I used the elevated train between terminals in DF, it was running once every 15 minutes or less. I had to wait a full 15 minutes and there were people waiting for it before I got there. This was in the evening but not late, maybe 8:30 pm.

Given a choice between countries where I have to change planes, I would opt for almost any country in preference to the US. The lines at security are usually worse in the US than anywhere else.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

leave a minimum of 2 hours, the customs do not take that lonf as a rule but your flight can be late so 2 hours is the way I would go


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

TundraGreen said:


> I would say two hours would be okay if there are no delays. I flew into Mexico City from Amsterdam recently. I had a two hour connection, but the flight into Mexico City was delayed leaving me one hour to change planes. There was no line at immigration for citizens (I have dual citizenship) and I had no checked luggage. I had to wait 15 minutes for the train between terminals since the Guadalajara flight leaves from a different terminal and the train between terminals runs infrequently. I got on the connecting flight about 5 minutes before it was supposed to leave.
> 
> If I had had to wait in the tourist line at immigration or wait for luggage before going through customs. I would not have made it. My daughter has had this same connection coming to Mexico a couple of times. The first time she did not make it and the second time she did.


Question regarding the different terminals for your flights. Was it the same airline? Because in my experience at CDMX airport, as long as it's the same airline, it will be in the same terminal, regardless of National vs International. So if Turtle Too has both arrival from US and departure to Guadalajara on the same airline, she shouldn't have to change terminals. However, the risk of a delayed flight US to Mexico causing you to miss the next leg is one to take into consideration, especially if flying out of a snowy area in December... 

Here is a link to the installations at the airport. If you click on the map icons, they enlarge and you can see where the International arrivals and National departures are for each Terminal. 

Instalaciones - Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México - Aeropuertos.Net


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

ojosazules11 said:


> Question regarding the different terminals for your flights. Was it the same airline? Because in my experience at CDMX airport, as long as it's the same airline, it will be in the same terminal, regardless of National vs International. So if Turtle Too has both arrival from US and departure to Guadalajara on the same airline, she shouldn't have to change terminals. However, the risk of a delayed flight US to Mexico causing you to miss the next leg is one to take into consideration, especially if flying out of a snowy area in December...
> 
> Here is a link to the installations at the airport. If you click on the map icons, they enlarge and you can see where the International arrivals and National departures are for each Terminal.
> 
> Instalaciones - Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México - Aeropuertos.Net


In answer to your question, I arrived at CDMX on Air France and departed to Guadalajara on AeroMexico. According to your link, Air France is in Terminal 1 and AeroMexico in Terminal 2, which is consistent with my having to change terminals. It the connecting train, the terminals seem a lot further apart than they look on the map, but apparently it is just going around the end of the runways to the other side.


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## TurtleToo (Aug 23, 2013)

Thank you for the great links, maesonna and ojosazules. I'm starting to feel as if I know my way around this airport already! TG, thanks for recounting your experiences changing terminals; and everyone else for contributing advice.

Based on all of your advice, I feel comfortable booking a flight with a layover of 2 hours and 15 minutes in Mexico City. I'm going to keep it simple and fly Aeromexico both legs, so no terminal change. Since Citlali says that customs doesn't usually take very long, and since I hope to have no checked luggage, the timing seems fairly relaxed as long as the flight from Boston is not too delayed. So hopefully no O.J. airport routine needed! (And, after all, a missed connection is not the end of world--there's always another flight.)

.


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

We’ve been having a cold snap this last week or so in central Mexico, and the early mornings are foggy.
Some friends were arriving from Spain this morning on the Aeromexico Madrid–Mexico City night flight that arrives in Mexico a little before 5 am. Well, the airport was fogged in as it has been most every day this week, and they couldn’t land. Their flight ended up landing in Toluca, and they were bused to the Mexico City airport, not arriving until about 10 am. 
For our friends, there was no problem, since it was their final destination but I guess most anyone booked to take another flight would have missed their connection.


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