cheltzel

The OP is arriving form HND on JL. Unless I am really missing something, there is only one daily JL flight form HND, JL10. It arrives at 09:35. That is in a little bit of a rush hour of arrivals as you have EY151 arriving at 08:40, NH112 at 08:40, JL10 at 09:35, KE37 at 09:40, TK185 at 09:55 and finally UA945 (FRA) at 10:35. As long as there isn't something that causes a backup, I assume that the two earlier flights will be little or no issue and any congestion may be cause by the KE and TK flights arriving within 20 minutes of JL10. The only *A flights arriving anywhere near the JL flight are NH112 (55 minutes earlier) and TK185 (20 minutes later).

Hopefully, our OP gets a bit of luck and has clear sailing through the awesome ORD T5 FIS infrastructure!.

ords

Another minor shift of processing lanes as we're into the last 3 months of construction within the FIS area. Yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel. CD8 and CD9 will remain closed until the end of the year to help facilitate additional MEP work needing to be done. Around the 1st week of October United will relocate their recheck area over to the common use counters in the center outside the FIS area. United will get in and redo their whole area along the lines of how American did theirs.

One minor tweak which itself has made an impact was the removal of domestic flights posting on the information screens within the FIS hall for baggage claims. CBP is aware there needs to be additional GE computers and that's being looked at.

The hallway leaving FIS will be shifting to its' final configuration within a couple of weeks. Walls need to be taken down...

Staffing by CBP is another issue...which the City has zero control over.

GUWonder

Last week again it was a bit of a problem accessing the GE kiosks even as there were airport staff helping us to get access to the GE machines. CBP was fast in dealing with us, but part of that was perhaps because so many other GE users seem to waste their time with the GE kiosks due to their lack of familiarity with how to interact with the machines running off facial biometrics.

Given the piles of luggage on the baggage belts, it seems like a lot of people have been held up waiting their turn with CBP. But some of those messes in the arrivals baggage hall seem to be a function of the airline ground handling service companies being inadequately staffed for peak traffic.

The UA service desk at T5 arrivals was able to do check-in there, check bags and give boarding passes, but this time the crowded mess was with UA more than with AA.

FlyerfromORD

Strange experiences reported above - not questioning, but very different than my multiple entries over the past 9 months. On 4 different occasions at Terminal 5 since last fall, GE has been seamless for me and companions. Literally no more than 5 seconds with face recognition. In the past 9 - 10 years or so since I had GE, I have had some trouble with kiosk machines, but those are gone.

Some mention of a hand-bag only line above? I don't remember that since about 2015.

I travel with no checked bags. In the past year, I have typically been waiting for my pick-up within 30 minutes of landing. That includes de-planing, the walk to Immigration/customs area, immigration and customs processing, walk to the sidewalk pick-up area outside. Pre-Covid with the older GE machines, I could sometimes hit 30 minutes, but was generally more like 45. I fly internationally at least quarterly, but more than 4 total international flights per year. Of course, I count my lucky stars each time I make it through smoothly - who knows what the next iteration will bring,

goodeats21

Saw a lot of signage at the GE kiosks this trip. Don't touch the machine, just look at it, etc.
Worked smoothly for me and no backup, but was a pretty quiet time.

And for once, used a gate that was near the processing area. First time without a long walk in ages.

ords

Thank you, you've given me an idea to run by the asst. port director for CBP.

PresRDC

It hasn't. I did it this past Wednesday. Arrived on Turkish and had a separate United ticket for the final leg to SBN. Bag only checked to ORD. No issue for UA in T5 to retag it. Bag arrived in SBN without issue.

xobile

Anyone been through T5 immigration lately? How is it? Mobile Passport Control and GE easily available?

ords

Claims 8 and 9 have officially reopened for use as of yesterday. There's some tweaking of signage pointing to the exit, but this is another major step to completion. The goal is still end of year from what I am being told.

ords

The work on the sterile corridor coming from the east is going to be shifting sides. Passengers will now use and see the terrazzo and new ceilings before making the right turn into the larger Queuing area.

Signage is one area that is going to be worked on over the winter while loads are reduced, there will be also multiple daily observations by certain staff to track overall functionality starting out near M25 all the way into the FIS areas. Feel free to provide feedback. Recheck areas will still be a mess until February 2024.

goodeats21

Really appreciate all the updates. I am arriving back thru T5 in a couple of days and interested to see the progress.

One small suggestion on signage. Not great to put signs telling to scan QR codes for info in areas where there are also signs saying phone use is not allowed...

Redbrick2

Thanks for the updates, I think the process is improved as compared with last month. Yesterday it was clear which queues were for Global entry vs. MPC vs. regular US passport.

Last nights bottle neck was after baggage claim, with multiple lines feeding into only 2 customs agents.

goodeats21

So, came back yesterday and arrived at M25. Honestly, it was a mess. The line was LONG, and there was staff blocking people at the escalator, because there was no where for them to go at the bottom. (Smart from a safety perspective, awful from service experience).

Several of us asked about being allowed down to access Global Entry. Rather surly staff gave a hard no and said "it was all the same line". Um, No.
Then, after a couple of minutes, same staff opened up a side barrier and said anyone with Global Entry could go down.
Felt bad, and a bit embarrassed, for anyone in the visitor line. Was going to take forever and was just a poor experience all around.

Longest line for Global Entry I have ever encountered. Setup needs some help. Kiosks are located just around a corner, so no one in line could see when they were open. Line to actaully exit past CBP agent was backed up and intermingled with people still trying to get to the kiosks.

Single CBP agent checking their iPad for clearance, which to my experience takes much longer than when we just handed over a slip.
Overall, took ~15 minutes to get thru.

I imagine the GE setup now is a result of limited space due to construction and the end plan will be better.

ords

Thank you for this and to the other poster for feedback. Yes, the GE kiosks will move to the far east side of the hall once FIS area is completed. When lines back up, it's a CBP staffing issue.

aisleorwindow

Thank you for your continued updates - we appreciate it!