When Erica and I bought these tickets to Oaxaca last November 2009 for this February 2010 trip, the RT cost direct to Oaxaca was over $800 USD. So we decided to buy at RT to Mexico City for $344 USD and then a domestic flight on Mexicana as a separate ticket for $200 USD. That meant when we got through immigration (imigracion) and customs (aduana) in Mexico City, we needed to get from the new international terminal on the far side of the airport to the domestic terminal. Here’s how we did it!
When you arrive in Mexico City you’ll go through immigration (imigracion), then you’ll be led to the baggage claim area where you’ll get your baggage in order to go through customs (aduana). First, get a rolling cart $1USD) to put your bags on. Much easier. You’ll have to give the woman there your baggage claim ticket in order to proceed through aduana and then exit the area.
After you get your bags, do NOT go towards “connecting flights.” (Erica almost did that, and I said, that’s if you have booked a connecting flight and you just go right into the terminal without going through aduana.) You are going to exit out the glass doors into the terminal, where a crowd of people are waiting for arriving passengers behind a roped area. Turn right in front of them and go down the end of the hallway (you can stop and get pesos at one of the many ATMs lining the opposite side of the hall). Your destination is the set of elevators at the far end of the hall near the bus terminal to Puebla. Take the elevator to the second floor where there is the AeroTren (air train) to Terminal One.
Follow the signs to the Aero Tren. You will have to have a document that says you have a ticket for a flight leaving from Terminal One (or so I understood from the security guards at the entrance to the train). The train is sleek, new, with compartments for ample people and lots of luggage. It’s a slow ride, so make sure you have plenty of time to make this connection. By the time we exited our flight, got through customs and immigration, and got on the train, it was 35 minutes. Another ten minutes to get to Terminal One. When you exit the train you will come to a bridge. Turn left to the terminal. If you have a lot of luggage, hire a porter for 50 pesos (I pay 10 pesos a bag) to help you. It is a LONG walk to the Mexicana counter at Terminal One.
The Mexicana counter is on the ground floor, so you have to go down a flight of stairs to the check-in counter. Because we order and paid for our tickets online, we were directed to a special check-in area on the right for prepaid tickets. There is a longer counter area and that is for people who need to buy their tickets.
You’ll check your bags there and get a boarding pass. Then go through security and then upstairs to the gate– there are lots of restaurants if you want to eat or drink something. Phew! It’s not as hard as it sounds — but an adventure! Walk to the far end of the concourse across from McDonalds and you’ll find a great restaurant. I heartily recommend the Agua de Sandia y Jamaica, 47 pesos.
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