MIAAirport Guide

Currency exchange at Miami airport and whether to use it

Every ICE currency exchange booth at MIA by concourse and hours, why the counter rate is rarely the best one, and when an ATM or a card is the better move.

A currency exchange counter in an airport concourse
A currency exchange counter

MIA’s currency exchange booths are all run by ICE (International Currency Exchange), with counters in every terminal, several of them open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Use one for a small amount you need straight away, like cash for a tip or a snack, and compare the rate before changing anything larger.

Where the booths are

MIA’s directory lists these ICE counters:

Where Floor Listed hours
Concourse D, arrivals, before security Level 1 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Concourse D, by Gate D-19 Level 2 12:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Concourse D, by Gate D-29, after security Level 2 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Concourse D, train station Level 3, before security no hours listed
Concourse E, departures, before security Level 2 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Concourse F, departures, before security Level 2 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Concourse H, departures Level 2 12:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Concourse J, between Doors 30 and 31, before security Level not listed 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Concourse J, international arrivals, before security Level 3 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

MIA’s own services page also mentions a booth in the E Satellite building, open daily from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., and counters in the Greeter’s Lobbies in Concourse E (Level 1) and Concourse J (Level 3). Our currency exchange page keeps the full list with each booth’s page.

If you’re landing from abroad and need dollars before you leave the airport, look at the arrivals-level counters in D (Level 1) and J (Level 3), and check their hours against your landing time: the J arrivals booth closes at 8 p.m.

Is the airport rate worth taking?

Usually not for large amounts. MIA doesn’t publish ICE’s rates, so you only see the rate at the counter. MIA-WiFi is free across the terminals (our wifi page), so you can pull up the mid-market rate on a currency app while you stand there. The gap between the two, plus any fee, is what you pay. Two kinds of company point you away from the counter:

  • ICE’s own site invites you to reserve currency online and collect it at a branch “to take advantage of great rates”.
  • Companies selling alternatives say the airport rate is poor. Wise titles its Miami airport guide “Watch out for high fees”, and CXI, which runs exchange stores in Miami, promises rates “much better than airport exchange rates”.

Using an ATM instead

MIA has ATMs throughout the terminals, on every level from 1 to 4, and our ATMs page lists them. An ATM gives you dollars from your own bank account, so it skips the exchange counter entirely.

Sources