rorywilliams

This has probably been asked a million times before but here goes.

I am flying from Minneapolis to Chicago on American, then connecting to British Airways to Heathrow. Same route in reverse on the return leg.

First, what is the easiest way to connect to an international flight at ORD? I know i will have to change from the domestic terminal to terminal five, do i have to treat it as a domestic flight essentially?
For the return, i know i have to recheck bags and go through customs and security again. Does AA or BA have a "post security bag drop" after customs? Or will i have to carry my bags with me on the train and check them again at the regular bag drop when i change terminals?
Thank you so much!

jerry a. laska

MSP-ORD-LHR.
To get to T5, you can either:
(1) take the shuttle bus from the area of Gate K19 - K20 or Gate G17 (the bus leaves every half hour or so, iirc); or
(2) go landside and take the ATS train to T5; you will have to clear security again using this route.

LHR-ORD-MSP.
You will drop your bags at the AA bag drop desk after customs. You will then head to the ATS train and take that to T3 for your AA flight; you will have to clear security.

See also this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...y-t3-t5-3.html

Picture of the sign (with hours of operation) in the post linked here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23128336-post32.html

Willi90

What are the operating hours of the bus? Very soon I will arrive in Chicago at like 1PM for the 5PM flight.

rorywilliams

thank you so much!

economyman

Works most of the day, certainly in the afternoon if I remember correctly.

FWIW, last time I had to wait for 25 minutes as I arrived just after the bus had left. Used the flagship lounge which is right there (as a BA gold) but frankly considering you have to redo security if you go the other route, I think it always makes sense to use the bus.

jcm9000

Hello,

Does anyone know if the ORD T3 - T5 shuttle bus is still running for BA passengers connecting from an AA flight (picture here from the AA board: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...y-t3-t5-3.html) - thanks to Jerry....?

I am flying back from DEN on Feb 16th and it is only giving me an hour and a quarter connection time at ORD no matter how i use the multicity tool on AA.com. I am considering waiting a day and taking the DEN-LHR direct 747 (doesnt run on the 16th), but then it wants me to sit in LHR for 12 hours for the DUB flight (and i dont want to drop the last segment...coughcough). I suppose if i miss the connection it will just mean a day at ORD which would be no worse than an extra day at DEN!

orbitmic

Yes it is - I used it last month. However, it is only in the afternoon, only about once an hour, and it gets quite busy, so while it makes things more comfortable and withdraws the need to reclear security, depending on how lucky you are with the timing, it is not necessarily saving time at all.

PS: strange about the connection. Have you also tried via DFW which also tends to work quite well from DEN and allows transit without reclearing security?

jcm9000

Thanks orbitmic, good to know it still runs. In the end after much faffing around searching every direct ba destination with a connection from den and someone grabbing the last j seat on a mia-gcm leg (always happens!) just as i go to book meaning a complete rethink, i am going via dfw and austin back to lhr. Means a trip on the 789 (and my first a380 on the way out) so turning into a cool trip! Anyway, ive done a fair bit of us flying and never knew about the aa-ba airside shuttle at ord. it seems quite secretive so surprised it is often busy!

corporate-wage-slave

In ORD itself it's very well advertised in the AA areas, pretty much unmissable. However the service frequency being what it is, it isn't a massive benefit. It's probably not worth waiting 15 minutes for the service, even if it does save you a security check.

jcm9000

I blame the champagne bar...nothing to do with me not paying attention, no sir.

27R

Bumping this thread to add more recent experience....

The bus gate is just to the right of gate K20 - it's easy to spot. I got there 15 minutes before the 17:40 bus was due to depart and took a seat. About four minutes before I was expecting to go, an agent in a hi-vis vest who'd been sitting a couple of rows away asked if I was there for the bus, then said I was probably too late. A quick radio message confirmed that the bus wasn't coming because there weren't any passengers. So I'm back in the Admiral's Club sinking a quick Sam Adams Summer Ale before returning to take the 18:10.

Moral of the story: get there early, stand by the desk, identify yourself.

If you're Gold/OWE, the bus gate couldn't be more convenient for the Flagship Lounge. It's about a five minute brisk walk from the "H" gates Admiral's Club. The dragons at the entrance level of the AC have the timetable on their desk; the ones upstairs don't, and gave me the wrong info.