ta3153

My husband and I are planning a 50th wedding anniversary trip to London and Ireland in September which includes a two day layover in Chicago. We will be departing for London out of terminal 5. From what I’ve read there is no TSA pre check in that terminal. On a Saturday at 6:00 pm the wait time is 15-30 minutes.

Because of hip issues standing (or sitting in a chair with feet on the floor) for that long is very painful so I’m looking for a way to avoid the long wait. Not a great way to start a trip! One alternative I’m considering is applying for CLEAR although it is pricey.

i’d appreciate any insights from those with experience navigating Terminal 5.

janisj

I'm almost 100% sure TSA Pre✔️ was installed at ORD Terminal 5 when Delta moved there last year.

janisj

To double check my memory I just searched at FlyerTalk and yes, T-5 definitely does have Pre✔

KTtravel

You might call the airline you are flying with to ask about their passenger assistance program. I have accompanied relatives using airport wheelchair services and we are usually given priority status and are whisked through any lines.

ta3153

Thanks so much for your responses! I also posted my question on Trip Advisor and learned that terminal 5 does have pre check, but it is different. There is a TSA pre check line that then merges with the regular security line, but you’re given a card showing that you’re pre check so don’t have to remove shoes etc. the Trip Advisor poster indicated that she got through within 10 minutes.

Hope this info is helpful to others who are flying out of ORD.

janisj

" There is a TSA pre check line that then merges with the regular security line, but you’re given a card showing that you’re pre check so don’t have to remove shoes etc. the Trip . . . "

That only happens when the Pre✔ line isn't open. (Clear opens earlier than Pre✔ but most of the time Pre✔ works like anywhere else).

Per a Chicago FlyerTalk member who uses T-5 multiple times a month. "There is a dedicated TSA pre-check line. When PreCheck is closed at T5, the TSA travel document checkers have laminated cards they can use to provide PreCheck boarding pass holders with an allowance to keep on shoes when going through the screening. Sometimes they need a reminder about this when PreCheck is closed."

ta3153

Thanks (again!) Janis! Flyer Talk sounds like an excellent resource. I’m going to check it out.

laurie_ann

Also check that your airline offers pre-check. And that your airline has your known traveler number. It's the airline who puts in on your boarding pass.

ChgoGal

Also, @ta3153, maybe research the state of the arrival process if returning to T5 and arrange wheelchair assistance. My family of 6 returned to T5 from Tokyo last month around 5 pm, and the arrival process was awful. (Don't get me started on how far Chicago has fallen for both tourists and locals!) A long walk from the gate to border control to baggage claim, and then from baggage check out to the lobby became a terrible bottleneck. Literally hundreds (felt like thousands) squeezed into the baggage claim, shuffling slowly in a queue, and funneled out like cattle . Long, slow, crowded lines of baggage carts and wheelchairs waiting to just get out the door past 3 agents when they need 20. We understood there to be NO rideshare pickup at the terminal (but who could tell as signage is non-existent) and traveled by the over-crowded monorail shuttle to T2. Hopefully by September, they will have sorted out some of their issues, but if not, you should really look into wheelchair assistance from your airline as you will need to stand and walk for over an hour upon arrival.

As a solo traveler and local, it wouldn't bother me, but with my senior mother and brother's family, I was disgusted and embarrassed by the city. Especially after the clean, orderly trains, buses, and airports of Vancouver, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Okinawa we'd just experienced.

Just a warning that you might want to prepare yourself, and be very patient.

Gretchen

Request wheelchair assistance. Period. You can have one person accompany you.

ta3153

Thanks ChgoGal. We’ve cancelled our trip and I’m scheduled for hip replacement surgery in 2 weeks which will (hopefully) solve my pain problem.

We’re rescheduling for mid April and have decided to fly out of SFO which is much easier to get to. While SFO has its own set of issues I’ve consistently made it through passport control in 5 minutes using either Global Entry or Mobile Passport Control. A good thing after a long international flight! Think I’m happy to avoid ORD!

So appreciate all the input. We are flying to Phoenix next weekend (because it’s not hot enough in Sacramento!) and I’ve requested wheelchair assistance. Not sure I would have thought to do so without everyone’s input.

Thank you!

janisj

Your trip is far in the future so lots of time to plan -- but I have a suggestion to avoid SFO and the crappy slog down I-80 and back. I'm also near SMF and used to fly out of SFO for all my international trips -- especially to the UK (usually 2 or 3 times a year). But for the last 10-ish years I haven't done that once. IME it s MUCH easier to fly out of SMF. Sure there are no non-stops -- but with a connection in any of several of major airline hubs the total travel time door to door SMF to LHR can even sometimes be shorter. You can fly SMF to LAX, or PHX, or DEN, or SEA, or DFW, or ORD (I avoid ORD if possible), even LAS, and others and then non-stop to LHR.

SMF is easier all around - TSA, parking, crowds, etc and there is only the short drive to/from the airport. I'd take the SMF connection at wherever over the crap shoot that driving I-80 to the Bay area can be. And if its anything like this past Wed morning when it took 90 minutes just from downtown to Davis due to an overturned big rig on the Causeway . . . just sayin'

Good luck with the surgery.