I don't know how far in advance Volaris allows you to check your bags. I assume it would be several hours, yes? Three or four calls to Volaris's superlative customer service might render a satisfactory answer.

Ha! Kaiser is the same way. I figured I'd try to get a couple things taken care of while I'm in the US. This was yesterday...

"No, sorry, the first available appointment is about six weeks out."

Call again 5 minutes later.

"How about this Thursday? Morning or afternoon?"

Are you travelling light enough that you can haul everything around with you?
You could go to the airport, and check your bags, then go back out. Will the airline let you check your bags that far ahead of the departure?

I only take one carry-on bag with wheels and I cart it around with me. The airport is not that far from downtown but it's not that close, either. It would be especially bothersome if the traffic was bad. (Late at night the traffic is never bad unless there is an accident on the main road. Throughout the day, it can get thorny and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for why and when.) The Otay Mesa community of Tijuana is just a stone's throw from the airport and there are some good restaurants but not a whole lot of nightlife.

I don't know how far in advance Volaris allows you to check your bags. I assume it would be several hours, yes? Three or four calls to Volaris's superlative customer service might render a satisfactory answer.

Somebody upthread said that CBX is expensive. It is US$15 one way and Volaris includes the fee in your ticket price.

My apologies. Expensive is relative. I am used to grabbing the autobus from Tijuana Centro for MXN$15 pesos. However, the buses stop running around 9:30 / 10 pm so unless you want to sit around in the airport for several hours, that's not an option for these madrugada flights. For these flights, if you arrive in San Diego sometime in the evening, you have plenty of time to make your way to Tijuana Centro. The restaurants and nightlife are available aplenty. (Highly recommend La Corriente Cevichería for mariscos. It's on Calle Sexto y Madero, one block from Avenida Revolucion, the heart of downtown.) Then you can take an Uber or taxi from downtown TJ to the airport around midnight or 1 am. Shouldn't be more than MXN$400 pesos for the whole crew.

That is also an excellent option.

I had never really considered that since all the times before I have been leaving from my house in San Diego.

Now that I no longer have a house in San Diego, an evening in Downtown TJ might be fun.

Are you travelling light enough that you can haul everything around with you?
You could go to the airport, and check your bags, then go back out. Will the airline let you check your bags that far ahead of the departure?

Somebody upthread said that CBX is expensive. It is US$15 one way and Volaris includes the fee in your ticket price.

My apologies. Expensive is relative. I am used to grabbing the autobus from Tijuana Centro for MXN$15 pesos. However, the buses stop running around 9:30 / 10 pm so unless you want to sit around in the airport for several hours, that's not an option for these madrugada flights. For these flights, if you arrive in San Diego sometime in the evening, you have plenty of time to make your way to Tijuana Centro. The restaurants and nightlife are available aplenty. (Highly recommend La Corriente Cevichería for mariscos. It's on Calle Sexto y Madero, one block from Avenida Revolucion, the heart of downtown.) Then you can take an Uber or taxi from downtown TJ to the airport around midnight or 1 am. Shouldn't be more than MXN$400 pesos for the whole crew.

For my return to ZIH from Portland I'm planning now to go to San Diego and through CBX.

The best thing about it is the flight leaves TIJ at 3am. At that hour you will be one of maybe 6 people in line and you will likely have to awaken the customs agent to start the conveyer. They are not much interested in looking in your bags.

Somebody upthread said that CBX is expensive. It is US$15 one way and Volaris includes the fee in your ticket price.

The expensive part is that stay in San Diego. But then when you get off the plane at 8:30 on a normally beautiful Zihua morning, grab your bag and go, it all becomes worth it.

Near-equatorial sunrise at 35,000 feet is worth it too. Get a window on the left.

Starting to sound a bit like Cowboy cops in the USA who seize
your valuables and your car under misguided Drug Forfeiture practices.

What a chit show. Going to get my flight changed to come through MEX.

Don't forget you can fly to San Diego, get yourself down to the Tijuana airport, and fly directly to Zihuatanejo. Maybe stay a day or two to check out some sites in San Diego.

I had never thought about this with regard to Zihua until the flurry of posts here. Lately, the Aduana has been more strict crossing into Tijuana but only when crossing by car/small truck. Of course, almost fifty thousand cars / small trucks cross into Tijuana every day. (A similar number come north.) There is the red/green light when you advance through the gates but it seems rare that a red light is encountered. The Aduana agents eye you over as you pass and the pickups, SUVs, and minivans seem to get pulled over the most. The numerous Marines who are interspersed with the Aduana agents are carrying assault rifles and they literally look like children!

To be honest, the two times I crossed into the airport using the CBX years ago, I can't even remember if we went through Customs. (The CBX is convenient but expensive!) Walking across from San Diego into Tijuana at San Ysidro, there is a luggage / backpack scanner but I don't ever remember anyone having their luggage searched.

A friend is arriving from Vancouver on Air Canada on November 1. I think it is the first flight of the western Canada “season” for ZIH. WestJet usually starts its seasonal service during the last few days of October or the first days of November. It appears that WS has pushed the start back to November 12.

My friend is bringing some Blink outdoor cameras for me. I will be interested to see how this flight is treated. It is one thing to make “regular” travelers to Zihuatanejo uncomfortable. It is a whole other thing to alienate the more financially lucrative tourist arrivals.

Came in yesterday and was worried about going through customs after reading the recent posts. I have had trouble with them before especially when bringing in school supplies and last time they really went through every single thing in our luggage. It does appear that everyone is getting searched. The couple that was at the same table as us were very upset. For some reason the agent was fixated on a ziplock bag full of costume jewelry. The man even shouted keep it if it’s that big of deal. They were eventually released with their bag of jewelry. Now I’m thinking great as my wife has a ziplock full of silver jewelry that she has bought over the years in Mexico.

I spoke to my wife about the process before we left and asked her to remain relaxed, friendly and respectful as she was upset at the mess they made out of our luggage last time. I help them open up all of our bags and joked around with the toy dart pistols l brought for my friends son. He only asked to see some seeds aka our big can of cashews and a bottle (Crown Royal) and off we went. It took us max 15 minutes from the plane to outside. Not near as bad as a previous post, maybe I was lucky or maybe it has something to do with attitude. No sé.

What a chit show. Going to get my flight changed to come through MEX.

They were questioning her for having in her suitcase children clothing. She told them about having grandkids and other relatives in town and she brought them as gifts.
At the end, she was conned out of $1000 Pesos as "FEE".

She was also hassled about food and had to dispose of her lunch she had not eaten in the plane in her way to Zihua due to not feeling well.

There was also another person where this "ratas" were also harassing, and this time, asking this other passager to pay with US Dlls.

Where are the authorities that can stop these individuals form robbing tourist at this airport? Are these "authorities" only looking to expand on bus tourist??

Came in yesterday and was worried about going through customs after reading the recent posts. I have had trouble with them before especially when bringing in school supplies and last time they really went through every single thing in our luggage. It does appear that everyone is getting searched. The couple that was at the same table as us were very upset. For some reason the agent was fixated on a ziplock bag full of costume jewelry. The man even shouted keep it if it’s that big of deal. They were eventually released with their bag of jewelry. Now I’m thinking great as my wife has a ziplock full of silver jewelry that she has bought over the years in Mexico.

I spoke to my wife about the process before we left and asked her to remain relaxed, friendly and respectful as she was upset at the mess they made out of our luggage last time. I help them open up all of our bags and joked around with the toy dart pistols l brought for my friends son. He only asked to see some seeds aka our big can of cashews and a bottle (Crown Royal) and off we went. It took us max 15 minutes from the plane to outside. Not near as bad as a previous post, maybe I was lucky or maybe it has something to do with attitude. No sé.

Glad to hear you didn't get hassled. Welcome back!

Since it doesn't appear to be a nationwide thing, I can only guess a local administrative bureaucrat is the problem.

I spoke to my wife about the process before we left and asked her to remain relaxed, friendly and respectful as she was upset at the mess they made out of our luggage last time. I help them open up all of our bags and joked around with the toy dart pistols l brought for my friends son. He only asked to see some seeds aka our big can of cashews and a bottle (Crown Royal) and off we went. It took us max 15 minutes from the plane to outside. Not near as bad as a previous post, maybe I was lucky or maybe it has something to do with attitude. No sé.