How to Get to Mexico City

By plane (Benito Juarez International Airport)

Most travelers arrive to Mexico City by air, to the Benito Juárez International Airport (IATA: MEX, ICAO: MMMX) [4], located in the eastern part of the city. There are frequent flights to and from most larger cities in the world, as Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Santiago de Chile, Lima, London, Paris, Madrid, Frankfurt, Chicago, Toronto, and Tokyo. Some of the international airlines that operate regular flights to Mexico City include: Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Air Canada, Air France, Alaska Airlines [5], American Airlines, Avianca, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Copa, Cubana de Aviacion, Delta [6], Iberia, KLM, LAN, Lufthansa, Mexicana, Northwest, TACA, United Airlines and US Airways.

Your airline will only let you board your flight to Mexico, if you have a valid return ticket. Your carrier might not tell you this until you're just about to board. If you plan on say driving out of Mexico, or leaving on a cruise ship, make sure you check this out well in advance. One way around the problem is to buy a second full price refundable ticket that you don't intend to use and then get a refund as soon as you arrive (or before you leave, as long as you have the original paperwork to show at the jetway). In most major US airports, they'll sell you this 'token' ticket at the jetway. Airline staff in the boarding area help travellers with this problem every day. There're no ticket sales offices at Benito Juarez, you'll have arrange your refund by phone. Make sure you'll have access to a phone that allows international calls. Get a refund number from the phone agent, this being Mexico, everything always goes wrong, but never in your favour!

The airport has a plane spotting area. To reach it, take the subway and go to the Terminal Aerea station.

Arrival

If you arrive on an international flight, you will go through Immigration, luggage retrieval and then Customs. Make sure you fill in all forms prior to landing to make this an expedite process. Sometimes, the airline will hand them out on the flight. There is a 300-dollar duty allowance that include new clothing, tobacco and liquors. The Mexican customs law allows passengers to bring free of duties a laptop, an MP3 player, a digital camera, a tripod, a video camera, and used clothing. Be careful with iPads, as they are sometimes considered laptops. If you have brought a laptop and an iPad, customs may consider this two laptops and refuse to allow entry with both.

You will also be required to fill out a Migratory Form for Foreign Tourist, Transmigrant, Business Visitor or Council Visitor which must be stamped by the customs officer, who will give you an obsolete number of days for your visa (up to three months). This form has a bar code on it and a blue stripe across the top saying "Estados Unidos Mexicanos." Be sure not to lose this form as without it, you might not be able to leave the country. If you lose or misplace it during the visit, you must visit the immigration office at the airport to fill out a new one. If you plead ignorance, they may let it go, but normally, there's a 440-peso fine.

After going through customs you will pick up your luggage, then pass through screening. You will press a button for a red or green light. The red means they will search you, the green means you can go. If you are taking a connecting flight to another location and the bags are already tagged for their final destination, you will drop them on a belt located to the right of the inspection tables. If tagged to Mexico City only, you will need to check in again with the airline. Foreign travellers using connecting flights from Mexico City are sometimes required to pass through customs again when they reach their final destination.

Just before passing out of the secure area into the arrivals hall, 'for your safety' your luggage will be xrayed. At this stage, if you've exceeded the Baggage and Duty Free Allowance, the officers will charge duty on your excess possessions. For example if you have 3 spendy cameras, they'll charge duty on the 3rd camera. They're particularly zealous about electronic components they don't recognise. Be prepared for this unpleasantness. If possible have a receipt or packing list and depreciate the value shown as much as possible. You can check out the baggage allowance at: http://www.aduanas.gob.mx/aduana_mexico/2008/pasajeros/139_10178.html.

The entire process, from when the plane arrives to when you are done with customs, usually takes about an hour. After completing customs, you will go through large doors to the waiting area for international arrivals. Be prepared to see a lot of people in this area. It is a custom for families to pick up their loved ones at the airport and the hall is rather small for a city of its size.

In a fine bit of job creation, you can't use an airport baggage trolley to push your own luggage through the arrivals hall. Your trolley will be agressively taken from you just outside the secure area. There are carriers who will offer to carry your luggage. This is a service authorized by the airport and is safe--they will be uniformed with white shirts, navy blue tie and dark blue pants and will carry a wheelie (or keep it nearby) with the union logo on it. There is no fixed price for this service, but 15-25 pesos should be fine, unless you are traveling in a group or have a lot of bags.

By Plane (Licenciado Adolfo López Mateos International Airport)

This airport (IATA: TLC, ICAO: MMTO) is in the City of Toluca 50 km southwest of Mexico City and recently transformed itself from a general aviation airport into the hub of several domestic low-cost carriers such as Interjet and Volaris which serve destinations as Monterrey, Cancún, Guadalajara, Tijuana, and many other Mexican cities. As of September 2009, Toluca is served internationally by Continental Airlines from Houston as well as by Volaris from Los Angeles and Oakland. Reaching the Toluca airport is not easy, You will need to drive your own car or hire a taxi, which can be expensive. The best transportation from and to Toluca's airport is Caminante. Ithas the biggest fleet of taxis at the best price and it also includes deluxe Mercedes Benz vans. Volaris offers free airport shuttle from its Santa Fe office in Vasco de Quiroga Avenue, while Interjet offers shuttles that are property of Caminante, from several hotels around the city, including the Santa Fe Sheraton Hotel.

Depending on your overall trip, it might also be worth considering flying to nearby cities as Cuernavaca (CVJ) and Puebla (PBC), but reaching Mexico City from these places could be quite tiresome and expensive.