Leaving Chicago Airport Between Flights

mib150

Hi all,

We are off to Orlando next week, we fly via Chicago.
Going there is only an hour or so between connecting flights but coming back there is 10 hours to kill.
My thoughts are to leave O'Hare and spend a few hours in the city then catch our flight back to he UK.

So my queries are - is it possible to leave the airport between connecting flights?
What is the process in doing this?
Any recommendations of places to visit/eat on a whistle stop visit to the city?

Thanks very much.

duchy

Yes absolutely it is. You'll check your bags in at Orlando and not see them til the UK anyway and will already be checked in for the transatlantic flight so when you get off the first flight head for the train station ......it is a bit like Gatwick built into the terminal and will take you into the city.

Coming back you go through security as normal. I'd plan on 2 hours before. There's loads of shops and eating places airside.

As for which station to get off at...take a look on tripadvisor and decide what you want to see and plan accordingly. You could book a bus tour so you see all the main sights and Chicago is famous for its pizzas.

I've actually done this and had a fab ....if very long day.

daveyjp

No idea about the process for leaving.

You get the Metro, takes about 45 minutes to Downtown.

A wander on Michigan Avenue, a drink on top floor of Hancock Tower, a burger in Billy Goat Tavern and back to O'Hare!

mib150

duchy wrote: »

Yes absolutely it is. You'll check your bags in at Orlando and not see them til the UK anyway and will already be checked in for the transatlantic flight so when you get off the first flight head for the train station ......it is a bit like Gatwick built into the terminal and will take you into the city.

Coming back you go through security as normal. I'd plan on 2 hours before. There's loads of shops and eating places airside.

As for which station to get off at...take a look on tripadvisor and decide what you want to see and plan accordingly. You could book a bus tour so you see all the main sights and Chicago is famous for its pizzas.

I've actually done this and had a fab ....if very long day.

Fantastic news, many thanks!
Yes it will be a very long day, but thought we might as well try take in some sights in an iconic city.
Cheers!

John259

mib150 wrote: »

Going there is only an hour or so between connecting flights

If that's a transfer from a transatlantic flight to a domestic flight then IMHO that's not long enough.

In that time you've got to:
Waiting while the plane taxies to the terminal.
Get off the plane.
Get through immigration (which alone could take an hour). Immigration is always done at your "port of entry", the airport you enter the USA.
Reclaim your checked baggage.
Get through customs (normally a very quick formality).
Re-check your baggage (sometimes it isn't obvious where you do this).
Get to the departure gate for the internal flight, which might be in another terminal involving either a long walk or a ride on a transit.
All this, before the gate closes for the departure flight, which will be some time before its scheduled departure time.
And the transatlantic flight might not arrive on time.

If this is a single booking and you miss the domestic flight then the airline has to put you on a later flight, and pay for overnight accommodation if necessary, if the delay is their fault. However, if the delay is due to immigration then they might argue that it's not their fault. If the two flights are with different airlines (but all one booking) then the same applies but I guess each airline might try to shift responsibility to the other.

If this is two separate bookings and you miss the domestic flight then you might have to rebook and pay for a replacement flight.

So I would suggest you try to get a different domestic flight with a much longer transfer time, if possible.

It might also be a good idea to have a look at O'Hare's web site, see if you can discover which terminal(s) are involved, how long they predict for immigration, etc.
http://www.flychicago.com/pages/landingpage.aspx

In addition, check the domestic flight airline's schedules to see if they have any later flights the same day. Of course, that doesn't guarantee those flights will have spare seats.

All in all, a bit of a nightmare. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. FWIW there was a very similar situation mentioned on the Las Vegas thread yesterday, someone changing at Seattle with a short transfer time.

Alan_Bowen

An hour is certainly not long enough at Chicago, most if not all transatlantic flights arrive at Terminal 5, miles away from the rest of the terminals, you need to take a tram usually to T1 or 2 depending on the airline. I would always allow a minimum two hours and with a ten hours connection on the way back, I do suspect a travel agent has made two separate and unconnected bookings to get a cheap fare. Which airline is it? Check on their website and see if there is a later flight to Orlando. If you are on two different airlines, so the connection is not on American or United, you are on your own!

cubegame

We once had an hour and 20 minute connection at Chicago and it ended up being late. Made the internal flight in 40 minutes so perfectly possible.

John259

The official figures for immigration waiting times at US airports are listed here: http://awt.cbp.gov

Bear in mind that the immigration queue is only part of the process, you also need to allow for various other stages including the transit between terminals.

mib150

Forgot to reply - sorry.

All was fine, got the blue line direct from the airport and got off in the city, had something to eat - went up Willis Tower, bit of a walk around. Set off back to airport at around 1pm - just to be safe, got back just after 2pm so all was well. Result!
Thanks all!


:D