emma dog

Not true... we can bicker all day long about MIA, but you can't honestly say that the D terminal with it's long walk requires a tour guide vs the various twists and turns and switching terminals.
Few... like ATL, DFW, IAD, MSP, PIT, SEA... just to name a few. And those actually allow you to go to the international flights as well.

Although I don't take MARTA, as long as you are not arriving internationally, ATL has the subway coming "into" the airport as much as DCA.

Stripe

If you are connecting on AA, but have a non-AA lounge membership and some extra time, you can access those lounges reasonably easily. About a 5 to 7 minute walk from the outlet of the H/K concourse to the lounges in terminal 2. A DL SkyClub is on the E concourse and a United Club is on the F concourse, although the latter was SRO when I visited about a year ago.

Also worth a mention is the large kiddie play area on the walk between terminals 2 and 3. Worth a visit if you're killing time with kids.

SeeBuyFly

Not that long ago, but most of the airlines mentioned on the map are gone.

I have fond memories of leaving from the original T1...that was when international trips were something one looked forward to.

Incidentally, the answer to a question nobody has asked yet in this thread, "Why is there no T4?" is that when T1 was demolished and T5 was being built, they used a section of the parking structure as temporary international terminal T4. It was basically a bus stop, one took buses to all flights. I suppose they decided that using the same number again for the permanent international terminal would be confusing.

PS Frontera's sandwiches are not perfect but they are far better than all the junk served everywhere else at ORD.

GunsOfNavarone

Absolutely. I was scheduled to fly ORD-ANC in summer of 2011, evening departure. Captain was pulled to work a flight to Paris, and we waited for a JFK arriving Captain. The JFK CPT boarded the plane, but by then he was out of "time" to complete the flight.

AA rescheduled the flight for the next day in the AM, told all PAX to keep their boarding passes. AA put many PAX into the ORD Hilton, not just elite. A great sign of goodwill by the AA ground team, which is typical for AA at ORD, and is why so many ORD based flyers prefer AA over UA at ORD.

On the food front at ORD, Romano's Macaroni Grill in the AA main terminal is decent, and for airport food, priced fine. If you want to take a walk to Terminal 1, the fresh carved roast beef sandwich at Bergoff's is fantastic, and so is the Italian restaurant (can't recall the name) at the end of terminal one. If you have the time, walk to Terminal one, get some exercise and get some decent food.

The AC lounge is bigger than it seams, make sure you visit the other side, more bathrooms, more lounge chairs, and quieter. Only recently did I discover the other side of the AC lounge. Creature of habit.

Another little note, the USO shares a lounge with AA employees inside of security at the front of the "L" gates. Lots of snacks, food and beverages. If you can get in, it is better that AC, other than no booze.

Finally, I fly ORD weekly, to destinations in all directions, and since the ANC reschedule, the worst I had was a 50 minute delay to LAS. The winter ORD issue is more of a myth than fact. The new runways and reduced flight loads have made ORD a very dependable airport year round.

trk1

Please note error in comments:

Cle had the first rapid transit train in the terminal in the USA. It is 24 min
terminal to down town terminal $2.50

supergrandslam

I wish I could

From my experience, immigration at ORD is the worst among the AA hubs(except LAX) for non-US passport holders.
I have never entered US thru LAX, so I don't know about the immigration at LAX.

Upgraded!

I've been put up there as GLD. However it wasn't one of the options offered at the gate (AE flight to MSN which got cancelled at the last minute). I went up to the ticket counter and essentially told them I wasn't leaving until I had either a towncar to MSN or a voucher for the ORD Hilton and somehow a previously nonexistent room somehow opened up .

dartagnan

So does STL.

2millionquest

There is no J concourse because "j" and "g" are sounds that are too easily confused, and there is a G concourse at O'Hare.

JDiver

And certainly many airlines would hate to refer to "Concourse Delta"... (though it would not be in T3 anyway); I already chuckle to hear some employees call out the gates using proper ICAO code, such as DFW Terminal "A as in Alpha", "C as in Charlie" - but it's always "D as in David".

G, H, K and L are mostly logical and as you say, more easily to differentiate when calling them out. (And I don't think I have ever heard anyone at ORD refer to the International Terminal as "Concourse M", though that might be me...)

davidgrahammd

Just to be precise - AA metal traveling overseas departs from Terminal 3 meaning no having to leave airside. Iberia to Madrid also leaves from the K concourse. In other words...any outbound international flights on one world can be connected to fairly easily. Inbound...sure security has to be re-cleared...just like pretty much any other US facility.

MKE-MR

Any outbound flights on oneworld except CX, that is.

Himeno

Not so. 6 Oneworld members currently serve ORD. 3 (AA, JL, IB) depart from T3, 3 (BA, RJ, CX) depart from T5. When AB starts service to ORD next March, they will also depart from T5. When/If MX resumes service, they will also be in T5.

davidgrahammd

Mea Culpa - I forgot about CX and JL. For come reason, I don't usually see their planes as I am taxiing in and out of T3 so they slipped my mind. I will stand by not having to leave airside for BA thanks to the shuttle.

Again, mea culpa. I shall strive to improve

Upgraded!

Going to have to mea culpa x2 : JL actually departs from T3 (which I think is relatively new, seeing as the signs pointing to the AC/FL as JL lounges are all hand-made on office printers). Perhaps you were referring to RJ?

In all honesty, not sure why CX doesn't pool together with BA in offering the shuttle service; all they'd have to do is start it two hours earlier (since the sole CX flight leaves two hours before the first BA flight) and I can't imagine it being that expensive. Plus, it would give people less reason to choose UA (since airside connections are no problem).

I understand why RJ doesn't; seems difficult since their service isn't daily and their flight sort of conflicts with the last BA flight, necessitating more buses, not just more service with the same buses.