Originally Posted by Road King
Mrs Road King and I will be returning to ORD from FCO on Mon 4/10 at 3:05 P.M. How much time do we need to allow for clearing customs before our flight to ICT? The ICT flights are all ER4 regional aircraft so boarding usually is no big deal. The reason for the question, there's a 4:19 P.M. or an 8:05 P.M. choice and naturally, we'd prefer the 4:19 P.M. I know that's not a lot of time, but is it possible? Thanks
My experience at ORD is that it's possible to clear customs and make it to the AA domestic gates in an hour. You do have a shot at making the 4:19pm. If you're checking bags and you're able to get ticketed on the 4:19pm flight, don't expect your bags to make it. ORD is notorious for not getting checked bags from customs to domestic flights within a 2 hour window. Also, an important caveat is that this is also an illegal connection, so you do have to worry about what happens if you miss the flight. The good news is that there are usually plenty of open seats on both the 4:19pm and the 8:05pm flights.
If it were me, and there's no checked luggage, I'd ticket the 8:05pm flight and then attempt to standby on the 4:19pm. It's nice because if you're delayed in customs or making it to the flight's gate, you're holding confirmed seats on the last flight out. Otherwise, you'll be on a standby basis for the last flight. Personally, I'd minimize the chance of an overnight in ORD on the return leg of an international trup.