Miami Cheap flights
If you think Miami is all palm trees and little substance, you’re wrong.Miami is one of the few cities that actually benefits from multiplepersonality disorder. You can get plenty of Miami cheap flights, and cheap hotels.Biscayne Bay ripples in the sunset as the last speedboats come home for the night. Little Havana provides a glimpse of pre-Castro Cuba juxtaposed by the Mc-pleasures of modern life. And the alluring sands of South Beach glitter with glitz, glam, and all the makings of a juicy gossip column. This is as chic as La Florida gets, where La Dolce Vita fuses with La Vida Loca, creating a tropical cocktail that’s guaranteed to both shake and stir. With the exception of theme parks and Mouse-ka-things, you can find just about everything worth finding in Florida in Miami.
First-time visitors are most surprised by the city’s cultural and natural resources. Sapphire-blue water, gleaming quartz beaches, and tropical gardens are complemented by such standouts as Villa Vizcaya, Biscayne National Park, and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area. And yes, if you need an attraction fix, some of Florida’s most enduring — among them, the Miami Seaquarium and Metrozoo — are here to prove that animal life does exist beyond the maniacal drivers on I-95.
I’ll chauffeur you to those as well as to other attractions in Chapter 10, but for now I get you here, through the check-in line, and parked at a dinner table.
Most folks come by air because flying is convenient and in most cases reasonably economical. Trains can be tedious, and even rail buffs find them time-consuming if they only have a week off. Ditto for drivers — they’re staring at about 450 miles between the state line and Miami.
Touch down at Miami International Airport (MIA), which handles 34 million passengers annually. The tenth busiest airport in the world, it’s served by more than 100 domestic and foreign airlines, offering direct links to 200 cities on five continents. The airport’s 121 gates may seem overwhelming, but the layout isn’t quite as complicated as it appears. For further information, call %305-876-7000, or visit the airport’s Web site (www.miami-airport.com).
After picking up your luggage — the route to baggage claim is clearly marked — you can take advantage of a number of services:
Car-rental desks for Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National, Value, and Royal are on the first level near the baggage-claim exit. (See the
Appendix for rental-car agency information.) Customs has two inspection areas. Passengers arriving at Concourses
D, E, and F exit at Concourse E, Level 1. Those arriving at Concourses A and B exit at Concourse B, Level 3.
Foreign currency exchange booths are at six locations on Level 2
and on Level 3 in the Greeter’s Lobby Concourse B. A booth at
Concourse E operates 24 hours a day. If you’re coming from another
country, convert to U.S. dollars at a bank back home. The exchange
rate may not be better, but you’ll save on fees.
The 24-hour information center is on Level 2, at Concourse E across from the hotel. There are four other centers, including two at baggage claim on Level 1, Concourses D and G (open 11 a.m.–7 p.m.).You can also get information by calling %305-876-7000.
A full-service bank is located on Level 4 of Concourse B. ATMs are
also located at the Passenger Service Centers between Concourses
B and C and between Concourses G and H on Level 2 of the Terminal.
The bank is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
Interstate 95, toll roads, and interior highways link Miami International
Airport, 6 miles from downtown Miami and about 10 miles from the
beaches, to the tourist areas. As I mentioned earlier, all the major carrental
agencies are located at the airport, or they run shuttles to their
nearby offices.
If you reserved your rental car before you left home,
head for the rental agency’s desk after you’ve collected your baggage.
Cabs cost from $1.50 to $3 to start the meter and $2 for each mile. So a
one-way fare for up to five people from the airport to the beaches would
range from $24 and up. Cab rides from the airport are blissfully short: To
South Beach, it’s only about 15 minutes; downtown is less; Coral Gables
and the South, about 20 minutes, which is the same for the North Miami
area. Taxis line up outside the airport’s arrival terminals. SuperShuttle is
one of the city’s busiest van services. Its rates from the airport to South
80 Part III: South Florida Beach are $13 per person one-way. That’s not a bargain for larger families.
Be prepared to make several stops because you’re likely to share a ride
with several strangers. For more information, call %305-871-2000, or
visit the shuttle’s Web site (www.supershuttle.com).
I don’t recommend using public buses. They’re unreliable and brutally
slow, taking an hour or more to travel the 10 miles to South Beach.
If you are headed to the northern section of Miami you may be better off
flying in and out of Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport.
Oftentimes, flights routed through this airport are cheaper than those flying into and out of
MIA. Located in the middle of Broward County, it’s actually closer to North
Miami Beach and Aventura than Miami’s own airport. See Chapter 13 for
more on this airport.