Toronto and Montreal as well you clear US customs/immigration locally in Canada and then go into the transborder terminal which is where the US flights go out of.

As others have noted I would expect the OP should be fine. Also note that since the OP is going to MCI, that may be a United Express flight, which means it may be going out of Terminal 2 as well in which case it's an even shorter walk. Check the monitors - E & F gates means stay in Terminal 2.

Thanks to the tips received on this thread I have been able to connect easily in ORD. Thanks all for your help!!

During peak periods. If you are transfering to T5 late at night, it could be significantly longer - 8 minutes is standard, and after midnight it's often 15 minutes.

They did. You have to go downstairs and then come back up via escalator or elevator.

T-2 (NWA) to T-5
 

How long would you say it would take to get from the NWA gates in T-2 (E-13/15) to Swiss' check-in area in T-5?

Assuming my flight lands in time, I will have 43 minutes to get to T-5 before Swiss 'closes the flight' (which happens 1 hour before departure time). Just to clarify, I will land in ORD (T-2) 1 hour and 43 minutes before my flight departs, but need to be in T-5 an hour b4 flight time.

Thanks!

I eyeball it as a 1500 ft or walk between E15 and the T2 ATS. I'd guess 20-25 minutes total at a reasonable walking pace since you're starting in the back of the E concourse, and have to wait for an ATS.

Doable, but don't dawdle. Hope the NWA flight is on time. If you are running tight, see if a GA will call ahead for you...

Agreed it should be doable - just be ready to step on it. You'll need to factor in some time for security in T5 - I have never gone through there - no idea what it's like.

They won't need to factor in time for security in order to meet the check-in deadline, right? That is, Swiss requires you to present yourself at their airside check-in counter at least an hour before the flight, I presume, not at the gate itself.

Ah yeah - I thought the goal was to get to the gate quick but if it's just checkin then obviously that's pre security.

ORD Terminal change
 

Is there a terminal change involved in arriving from Amsterdam on UA at ORD and flying onwards to YYZ on UA as well?

UA 909 AMS-ORD will come in at T-5. After clearing customs and going through the double doors, directly ahead of you will be the escalator to the train that will take you to T-1 where your YYZ flight will leave from. If you can get on the last car of the train (the first door as you walk off the escalator) it will be closest to the exit when you arrive at T-1.

When you arrive T-1 and and make it down the escalator into the terminal make a right turn. Entry to priority screening will be the first entrance on your left.

I was on the AMS-ORD flight this past Sunday (25JAN). The immigration hall was empty when we arrived. My wife and I were the first two from our flight to reach immigration. The flight actually came in at gate M13 which is the closest to Immigration. We actually arrived around 12h15 -- ahead fo sked by 01h05 minutes. I was heading back to work in ATL and my wife was flying back home to YVR. With the early arrival and only 10 minutes from plane-side to the train, I was able to grab an earlier flight to ATL where I will be commuting weekly until early 2010. The funny thing was I was in ATL before my wife's 15h20 flight left ORD for YVR.

btw....the flight attendant on my flight indicated that some of the AMS flights have the new C class. I was in MUC two weeks earlier (ORD-MUC-ORD) and that flight is now the new config. After a hectic and long week it was nice to have a flat bed across the ocean however the ORD-AMS-ORD we were we on had the old C config.

Happy Travels.

Great stuff - thanks!

ORD: Time in Transit--Lot F to T1
 

The ORD website says to allow "at least 45 minutes" when traveling from Remote Lot F to the terminals. Yet, elsewhere it says the travel time on ATS is 9 minutes, end-to-end.

Even assuming a 10 minute wait for both bus in Lot F and ATS at Lot E...we're only up to 30 minutes.

What should I really expect? I've gotten lucky, and an upcoming trip will be the first I've had to fly ex-ORD (as opposed to ex-MKE) in ages.

9 minutes might be the end to end travel time with no stops. Seems like it's more like 15-20.

45 minutes is a possibility:

Let's say you "just miss" a shuttle in the F lot. You wait 10 minutes until the next one.

Then, let's say your board the shuttle in the F lot at the very first stop. You have to ride it through the rest of the lot, making stops at various points along the way. Depending on the number of passengers/stops, it could easily be 15 minutes from the time you board the shuttle until the time you arrive at the ATS terminal. Total elapsed time: 25 minutes. (Obviously if you are at the first shuttle stop and "just miss" the shuttle, the bus will still be on the lot...you can always run/walk across the lot to the last shuttle stop before it leaves...but isn't possible for everyone--older people, or those with children, etc.)

Then, let's say you "just miss" the train. It's a 4-to-5 minute wait for the next one. Total elapsed time until your train departs: 30 minutes.

T1 is the final stop on the ATS. So you have 3 intermediate stops. Realistically this takes at least 12 minutes, sometimes more when there is a heavy passenger load. Then, factor in another minute or two to walk over the skywalk into the actual terminal building. Total elapsed time: roughly 45 minutes.

Generally your total elapsed time is closer to 30 minutes. But they are right to tell you to plan for 45 minutes.