Posted on 11/28/2006 6:18:58 AM PST by COBOL2Java
Sorry for the vanity post, but I needed advice from Freepers familiar with Chicago's O'Hare airport.
Due to some last-minute family issues, I had to get an additional ticket for our upcoming Christmas trip. The one extra ticket I got gets a family member through O'Hare on Christmas Eve, and she has to get from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 to transfer from American Airlines to United (hey, not my fault, folks! I'd purchased my tickets a long time ago).
I've only been to O'Hare once, and that was just to get to a nearby gate, so I can't offer any advice for the quickest way to get from an AA gate to a United gate.
Any Freepers out there familiar with O'Hare? Will she have to go in and out of security again, or is it like Dallas-Fort Worth, where you can hop on a tram to get from one terminal to the next? She'll have an hour and a half to get off her first plane and board her second.
Thanks!
There has gotta be an online map of the O'Hare terminals... just like they appear in the airline info booklets in the seatback pockets...
She should be ok. Unless one is the International terminal I don't think she will have to go through security again.
Walk fast. I used to fly that route from chicago to dallas often, and the terminals for AA to United are on opposite ends of the airport.
Ping to discuss the longest day of your life.
Don't know about having to go through security twice, but I would highly recommend wearing very comfortable shoes. Several years ago, I had to run the length of O'Hare in dress shoes, just to find out I had missed the connecting flight by three minutes - very aggravating, and sore feet, too...
Heh! One of my wife's longest days was spent at Dulles Airport a few weeks ago. She was supposed to board a flight to JFK at 2:00pm Sunday afternoon. Her plane didn't leave until 9:00pm Monday night!
Borrow a wheelchair from someone , tell them she is handicapped and traveling alone.They will pick her up in an electric car and transfer her.
Just joking folks, but I bet they would.
I haven't been through there since the late nineties, but there are underground tunnels with moving walkways to the UA terminal. There are also moving walkways on the concourses. Other than the likely crowds, it shouldn't be a huge problem. You can make good time if you keep walking on the things, instead of just standing there.
The Airport Transit System (ATS) should get your family member from one terminal to the other fairly quickly. How long is the scheduled layover between flights?
Why is it that airports seem to locate connecting flights as far apart as possible?
Two years ago I was in Zurich and in order to get to my connecting flight had to go diagonally clear across the terminal.
Some good news: not many people fly on Christmas Eve. Unless there is a big snow storm in the midwest the planes should be on time and the terminals will be easy to navigate.
Have a good vacation with all the family!
She should ride one of those little tram things they have in the airport, if she can find one or get one to stop.
Other wise she is in for a long, and I mean long, walk.
On the bright side, they do have moving sidewalks.
Assuming her flight lands on time, she'll have an hour and a half to get from the American Airlines gate to the United gate.
LOL--I hitched a ride on one in Chicago's International Terminal (it was late and nearly deserted) with a beer in each hand.
That's what I was afraid of. Sounds like her best bet will be the moving walkways. Thanks!
I'm thinking, with a carry-on and distant-gate-to-distant-gate, maybe allowing 30 minutes for the jaunt.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.