✈️Travel

⏰ Arrive 3 hours early

International check-in, bag drop, Mexican exit screening, and US/Canada pre-clearance lines can all be slow in high season. Plan to be at the airport 3 hours before your flight.

🛂 Step-by-step at CUN

1. 1. Airline check-in & bag drop. Have your passport and boarding pass ready. If you printed an FMM/tourist card on entry, keep it — some airlines still ask for it.
2. 2. Mexican security screening. Standard liquids rule (3.4 oz / 100 ml). Shoes usually stay on. Laptops out.
3. 3. Mexican immigration (exit). Mostly automated — your entry was logged digitally, so there's typically no exit stamp. Walk through if no agent stops you.
4. 4. Walk to your gate. Terminals 3 & 4 have shops, restaurants, and duty-free past security.

🇺🇸 US Customs (CBP) — done when you land

CUN does not have US pre-clearance. You'll go through US Customs at your first US airport (Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, etc.). Speed it up:

• · Use the Mobile Passport Control (MPC) app — free, skips the regular line.
• · Global Entry holders: use the Global Entry kiosks.
• · Have your passport + return flight info ready.

📝 US Customs declaration

You'll declare on the MPC app or a paper form. Be ready to answer:

• · Total value of items you're bringing back (gifts, souvenirs, jewelry).
• · Whether you're carrying more than $10,000 USD in cash/instruments (must declare).
• · Any food, plants, or agricultural items (declare to be safe).

Personal exemption: US residents can bring back up to $800 USD in goods duty-free, including up to 1 liter of alcohol (must be 21+).

🚫 Don't pack these in carry-on or checked bags

• · Fresh fruit, vegetables, raw meat, or seeds — confiscated by USDA.
• · Sand, shells, coral, or sea life — protected; fines up to thousands of dollars.
• · Cuban cigars purchased in Mexico — still restricted for US travelers.
• · Liquids over 3.4 oz in carry-on (vanilla, hot sauce, tequila → checked bag).
• · Lithium batteries & power banks → carry-on only, never checked.

✅ Souvenirs that travel well

• · Sealed/commercial Mexican vanilla, mole paste, hot sauce, chocolate, coffee.
• · Tequila & mezcal — checked bag, padded, in sealed bottles (1 L per adult duty-free).
• · Textiles, ceramics, silver, art — keep receipts for anything over a few hundred dollars.

💡 Pro tips

• · Spend leftover pesos before security — exchange rates inside the airport are poor.
• · Refill water bottles after security; bottled water inside is pricey.
• · Skip aggressive "timeshare" or "tourist help" desks near the exit — they're sales pitches, not airport staff.
• · Keep your passport, phone, and a pen accessible for the landing card on the plane.