pman95

I'll arrive in Terminal 5 at Chicago O'Hare from London by British Airways, and I will have just 1 hour and 25 minutes to get out, go through immigration, pick up my checked-in baggage, go through customs, leave Terminal 5 for Terminal 3, recheck my baggage with American Airlines, go through security, and board the plane.

Will I have enough time?

suze

I would never take that short of a connection at an airport like O'Hare.

fmpden

Should be. But that is the problem. But I assume that the Chicago ticket is not an independent ticket so AA would be responsible if you missed your connection. Last time in Chicago, I thought our bags were immediately rechecked after customs so we only had carry on to the next gate.

lincasanova

if you are on separate tickets with different airlines not good at all. basically because
1-one never knows how long immigration will take. Are you American? do you have Global entry?
2-one never knows how long getting OUT of customs will take.Lines can be ridiculous at peak times

-3-recheckig bag to next destination if already tagged is apiece of cake but if not.. and you have to wait inline at a different airline counter then THAT itself CAN take forever if any flight has been delayed and everyone is getting re-booked

not to mention WEATHER delays at O'hare. Infamous,

not a good time frame IMO for anyone really unless hand luggage and global entry US citizen sunny skies off season.

But if you are on one same airline/partner ticket, don't fret. They will take care of you if you miss your flight.

lincasanova

BA and AA are partners so surely you will be taken care of if you miss connection. To re-check tagged bag you just have to leave it on a belt for connecting flights, not go to counter, but they must tag it to final destination when you check in at origin.

BigRuss

Considering you have to clear immigration to transit in the US, I would never have less than a 2.5 hour layover in any major US airport, even the ones that are good at getting you through customs quickly (read: NOT MIAMI or JFK).

O'Hare isn't nearly as dismal as some, but it's a large airport with a lot of passenger traffic, hubs for the two largest US airlines, and Chicago weather, which sucks rocks.

jubilada

No way would I cause myself that anxiety.

pman95

Thanks all for the replies. BA and AA tickets are on the same ticket. However, the AA flight seems to be the last flight for the day. If I miss that, then I have to wait till next day which could be very tiring after flying 15-16 hours. BTW, I am an US citizen. That might help the immigration process a bit quicker.

doug_stallings

The problem really isn't immigration unless there's a huge back-up. It's actually going through customs and having to recheck your bags, exit security, and then go back through security. That's where the delays are most common. O'Hare is a busy transit airport, but during peak times it can also be busy for locals, who have to go through security.

It's easy to change planes at O'Hare in 90 minutes. I've done that many times and even had time to walk my dog outside (so I know you can get through security quickly, which is good). But if the slightest thing goes wrong, you will miss your connection. Is less than 90 minutes even a legal connection? I suppose it is if you were sold the ticket, but I wouldn't do it.

Weekender

Clearing security at O'Hare is always dicey. Last week at United's Terminal One, the PreCheck line was as long as the regular security lines. Other times, I have sailed thru within 5 minutes. That is the unknown.

BigRuss

>

Well, if you're traveling domestically, yeah. If not, hoo boy: that's entirely too many variables. Not even 1 in 3 on this.

pman95

I spoke to AA today. They looked at the booking and said it is a valid connection. Let's see how it goes...

lincasanova

Not much you can do about it.. good to know it is all on one ticket so you will be taken care of..

DonTopaz

Earlier this year, I had a similar connection at O'Hare, from an international flight (on Cathay Pacific) to an American flight.

The scheduled times gave me plenty of time to connect (about 2 hours), but we were almost 90 minutes late departing from Hong Kong. Although I figured there was no chance of my making the connection, I was very pleasantly surprised that an AA rep was there to meet the Cathay plane. The rep gave everyone with tight connections and orange card that got us to the front of immigration and customs lines, and I made the connection with a couple of minutes to spare.

FrankS

The line for non US Passport holders is MUCH shorter than that of US Passport holders. If other flights are arriving, I would say there is maybe a 30% chance of making it if you hold a US Passport and maybe 70% if you hold a non US Passport.


hint... if you are in a rush at ORD and one of those fellows with a wheelchaired customer is helping them past he line, that employee can be encouraged to bring you along if you get my meaning