Originally Posted by
colmc
Sorry for the thread bump, but is there any minimum connection time for international to domestic at ORD with UA? I've got an International to Domestic itinerary coming up with only 1 hour 20 minutes. Having flown through ORD before this seems quite short considering you have to clear immigration (non-US citizen travelling on Visa Waiver), collect bags, clear customs, drop bags, ride the inter-terminal train from International to T1, re-clear security (onward connection in F, so I guess priority lane *might* cut the waiting time down) and then get to gate (which could be on the mid-field concourse at T1).
Any opinions on whether or not it's workable. UA sold it as a through ticket, so I'm guessing they think so - I'm not so sure though!
I'm not sure it's going to be enough time, especially if you have checked bags.
The checked bags is going to be the lynch pin. There are a couple of things to remember:
About you; you're going to have to go from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1 on a tram. All said and done, it will probably take about 15 minutes to exit T5 and enter T1 (the security lines). You have to clear "security" again. Your F BP will help there, make sure you enter the priority "security" line to the left of the UA check-in counters in T1.
About your bags; again, depending on how fast you get your bags, they might not make it. When you drop off your bags after clearing Customs, your bags go through the same "security" process as if you just checked in. I think cut-off time for checking your bags in is 70 minutes at O'Hare, but I don't think it's the same thing for int'l onward connections. The 70-minute cutoff illustrates the time necessary to go through the process. Point here is that if you make your flight, your bag might not.
Bottom line: your chances to make the flight increase dramatically without checked bags.
Good luck!