A couple of notes to keep in mind:
If you’re meeting passengers coming in on an international flight, and you’re thinking that the waiting/meeting area outside customs on concourse J is a sensible place to meet your inbound international party when the info screen says they’ll be arriving at concourse J, you’re half right (it is a sensible place) and half wrong (there’s a pretty good chance your party will arrive two floors below and you’ll miss them, if they’re coming from Canada).
If you want to catch a shuttle to the hotel where your party is staying, after realizing that they’re long gone, and you’re thinking one of the dozen or so shelters marked “Hotel Shuttle” would be a sensible place to wait for one, you’re half right (it is a sensible place) and completely wrong (not a single airport shuttle actually stops at any of them). The proper approach is to go to the departures area, watch for the shuttle from the appropriate hotel, and then stand in front of it so it either has to hit you or let you on (the former would take more time to deal with, so they tend to stop).
This public service announcement has been brought to you by someone who spent way too much time not meeting his party at the airport today.
Oh, and one more thing that’s actually somewhat useful — if you want to get from Fort Lauderdale to Miami airport, and if you ask a hotel concierge, they’ll recommend a private sedan for $90 one-way. Go Shuttle quotes $120 one-way. If you persevere, you might get a taxi for $60 one-way. Don’t do any of these. Instead, take the commuter rail for $3.75 airport-to-airport, or $6.25 for a same-day round-trip ticket.
