Picking Up Friends at O'Hare, help please :)
 

Hello gurus~

I have some friends flying in to O'Hare from Dublin. They're flying in on AA93 which (apparently) comes into T5. I've never had to pick anyone up there, so I'm wondering what's the best place to meet them? They will not have US mobile phones with them so having them call from curbside won't work, so I want an easy to find place to meet them so I/they don't stress. Suggestions welcome, thanks so much!

There are two doors from which you leave Customs; next to one is an American connecting checkin counter, and next to the other is a United connecting checkin counter. If you want to park and go inside, you might arrange to meet at one of those.

See a map of the terminal. Customs time can vary greatly; in my experience O'Hare customs is generally quite slow in getting checked baggage.

AFAIK you have to take the train system to get to a parking lot.

I don't know myself since the last time I needed to do this with Terminal 5 I told them to go to the Hyatt Regency O'Hare which has a free shuttle bus and wait there until I pick them up.

I looked online a bit and it says that some people use the Kiss 'n' Fly stop off Bessie Coleman Dr since it connects to the terminal via a free shuttle.

T5 is the easiest place to meet someone at ORD. Just park in the international T5 parking lot and walk inside the terminal. Go downstairs to arrivals and they will exit either through the A or B doors. Both sets of doors are in the same area, look at the arrival time and add about 30 minutes for bags and customs. Take I-190 to ORD and exit at Bessie Coleman drive and follow the signs.

Thanks so much for the replies! I'll have them meet me near the AA connection desk, seems easiest.

Thanks again!

Just to clarify, they will need to meet you outside the doors just after the AA connection desk. The desk itself is still in the sterile area so you will not be able to enter there.

Since I assume they are not making a connection, they could exit through A or B.

This is all good advice. When you get to ORD watch for the signs for International and/or T5 parking (can't remember how its marked). You don't want either long-term or main parking, T5 uses a separate lot. This is a surface lot, and it is fairly inexpensive for the first hour, $3.00, I believe. You'll enter the terminal at the ticketing level. Take the escalator downstairs and there is a monitor that says which doors (A or B) will be used for which flight. UA almost always comes out the left hand doors and AA the right, but not always. There are also cameras that show people as they're walking out, but I don't think they've been working recently. As stated in a later post, you won't be able to get to the actual connection desk, but everyone has to come out of either door A or door B, so it isn't very hard. There are seats sort of behind the escalators if you're early.

Yes, parking at T5 is super easy. And I would give them your cell # in case you miss each other so they can call you from a payphone. But I doubt you would miss each other.

Here's another idea since the "waiting area" landside at T5 arrivals can get busy... As your friends exit Customs and pass the connections desks into the landside waiting area, if they turn left there is a bar nearly to the end of the waiting area (there is a large sign above with red letters "BAR"). I've used it before as place where whomever arrives first can have a seat and a beverage while waiting on the other party to arrive.

Thanks for the clarification~that could have been sticky!

Brilliant information everyone, thanks. I'll have my BF with me, so I'll put him on one door while I watch the other, and I'll let my friends know that is all else fails have me paged/call my cell. But from the sounds of it, this should work out well.

Thanks again everyone!

If they don't have much luggage and you don't want to wait around/deal with parking, have them ride the people mover down to the remote parking stop at the end and there is an area you can park for free and wait right there. People come down the escalator and cross the street where the buses stop and there is parking.

I thought of suggesting this as well, but given that they'll be coming off an international flight and that the parking charge should be only like $3.00, it seems easier to just meet them at the terminal. While the train (ATS, or Airport Transit System - as though a single train constitutes a "system") is easy to use and takes about 2 minutes from T5 to remote parking, parking at T5 itself is really easy.

I realize that this is considerably after the fact, but these questions get asked from time to time...

One of things to consider is staying on top of the arrival time, but not parking in the International lot any longer than necessary. If you have someone with you, drop them in the Kiss n Fly lot (at the end of the people mover). Have them get off at T5 and check the arrival board. When the flight arrives, park in the T5 lot and go in and meet your party -- alternately, have your friend call you and you can provide curb service when they come out.

You can also wait in the cell phone lot... I've never had an issue waiting in either lot for extended periods of time.

If you have Internet access on your cell phone, you can also watch the arrival times that way and head in to park when the plane lands.

And with both the A and B sides to watch, having your party meet you at the bar (or even by McDonald's) is always a good idea.