Smoking allowed at O'Hare Airport? [Answer: No smoking anywhere at ORD]
 

My husband, unfortunately, is a smoker andd we are headed to MOntana in a few weeks for vacation. First leg, we fly TYS-DEN and on to GEG. I found a smoking lounge in the Denver airport with no problem, but the O'Hare website has to be one of the worst I've ever seen for info. Ddes anyone know if there is a smoking area in O'Hare. My life would be much easier that way :)
Thanks!

From their website:

Smoking at Chicago O’Hare ORD Airport

Smoking is not permitted in O’hare International Airport.

It did tickle me that SLC has a smoking lounge now so many airports don't. It was so unexpected :)

ORD you can only smoke outside of the terminal :(, I recall CVG/ATL/SLC all have smoking lounges..

No smoking at ORD
 

I haven't paid much attention to this topic since I quit smoking a couple years ago but I used to connect through ORD a lot. If my connection was over an hour I would go out to have a smoke or two then come right back in through security unless there was a lot of traffic through security. If my wife was with me I could leave everything with her and make it through security a little quicker. I think the longest it ever took me to get through security at ORD was about 20 minutes with the norm being about 5-10 minutes but you really don't want to miss your flight. The main reason I quit was because of all the places I had to be where smoking wasn't allowed. Good luck with the smoke break and remember that with security YMMV!

tnsauerkraut, welcome to FlyerTalk! Just to get any added help, let me move this to our Travel->Chicago forum where issues of O'Hare airport are typically addressed. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

Smoking is banned inside any Illinois public building. Snus is the answer.

Unless, of course, the OP can find a cigar shop nearby during his layover in which he CAN smoke. ;) :)

Dave

Unless things have changed in the last year, the fastest way to go out and grab a quick smoke (If flying UA...) is to use the security area between B and the E/F connector. It never took me longer than 15 minutes to get back in, and there is a covered smoking area just outside of the door.

As I no longer commute through ORD on a weekly basis, things certainly could have changed.

If you do a search, you'll find a thread from last year that lists all of the airports with known smoking areas.

Please note that while there may be what appear to be (and may have been) covered smoking areas near exterior doors, as of 1/1/08 smoking within 15 feet of the door of a public building (and many private ones) is against the law in IL. Doors are supposed to have signs reminding people of this.

I have yet to meet anyone personally who's gotten a citation for this, but news reports indicate that it does happen from time to time. Don't give a bored cop a reason to harass you, which is always a good policy.

M

You make a good point.

In truth, even the areas on the upper deck of the Terminals is "off-limits" to smokers.
I suspect no one would hassle you, but the only "official" smoking area is outside of baggage claim on the lower level - there are announcements to this effect all the time.

Dave

Not sure if you've already bought the tickets, but if you haven't I'd just pick an option that routes you through DEN in both directions (not ORD).

Denver has a smoking lounge. Although I'm not addicted to nicotine, on several occasions I've stopped in there to smoke a cigar and planespot.

Welcome to FT!

It’s been almost 3 years since I quit smoking, but I seem to recall a smoking lounge in TYS (or maybe it was SDF).

He could always chew. Or just quit.

I had to quit too, but think that STL still has a couple of lounges.