What to expect when arriving at Cancun airport?

First of all, there are five terminals in Cancun airport, so if you come with friends who fly in different planes but are planning to meet there, your airlines might not match in the same terminal (if this is your case, please read my blog entitled: Coming/leaving in different planes: What to do?). There are terminals for domestic flights, for intercontinental flights, for Latin-American flights and for private planes. But they are all mixed according to the authorities’ decisions, except for the FBO terminal for private planes.

Anyway, these are common hints that will help you find the best way out of Cancun airport in order to go to your destination:

Right after your plane has landed and gated, you'll proceed and walk towards Security and Passport Control (there may be a line, but they usually move quickly depending on the season of the year). NOTE: in case you come in a domestic flight, skip this step because you already were in our country before arriving. Once through passport, check the monitors to find which baggage carousel your bags will be on. Once picking them up, head for the customs line [domestic flights no worries with this] where you'll be asked to turn in your Custom's Form (they will take one part of the sheet and you’ll be asked to keep the other part and save it for your return) and push the button on the large traffic light. Green light means “Go” and red light means they'll take a quick look through your bags. At this point, all your official duties with the authorities are done (I tell you this because from there on some well dressed persons might approach to you pretending to see if all is ok with you but all they will want to do is to sell time share to you). Now it’s time to through Customs’ area where you can rent a car or claim a reservation with the correspondent company; also, you can hire a taxi there. If this is your case, just follow the instructions of your representative (no need to continue reading this blog). But if you have a family/friend waiting for you, need to hire a shared bus ride or if you have a reservation with a ground transportation company (such as Playatransfers), then keep walking towards the exit of the building (terminal 4 has two exits: one for FRIENDS/FAMILY and one for GROUND TRANSPORTATION and RENTED CARS; take the one you need. The rest of the terminals have only one exit).

When your out of the building, you will have to choose where you will be heading to: if a family/friend is waiting for you, then look for that sign in order to exit the terminal and find your guy. If you have a ground transportation company hired, then look for a sign with their logo or your name written on it (some companies just use their logo, others your name and others a mix of both or more, depending what your company tells you in your instructions). Between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. usually it’s a bit busy there, so probably it will not be very easy for you to find your transportation ride. That’s why we choose the welcome bar located within that area so it will be easy for our driver to find you (or viceversa). There are several vans parked there so you will have to follow your driver’s instructions in order to board the correct one that will take you to your destination.

I hope this information helped you a bit in order to be ready to go to your destination once you’re in Cancun airport.