Risky connection at ORD? (irrops?)
 

We are currently booked on FRA-ORD (UA F) - HND (NH F) - BKK (TG F)

We arrive into ORD at 3.10 pm and continue onwards with NH at 5.25 pm. This is well covered by MCT, but in case something goes awry, does anyone know how UA handles irrops in F? I'm not thinking that the flight itself is necessarily late, but that it could be that we get stuck in border control and miss the connection. Does UA have any ground support escorting F passengers through customs?

Would UA for instance be open to rebooking us with EK F that leaves at 8.30 pm? We are on a RTW award ticket, so we'd still need to arrive in BKK around the right time to not miss onward connections.

We are really hoping that LH F opens up so we arrive into ORD earlier and won't have this scenario in the first place, but can never know whether it will open or not.

LH opens up first inventory 14 days out
 

I've read that LH open as up first inventory 14 days out. I've no personal experience. This information came from a column by the miles guy or points guy iirc.

Is there an escort on arrival in ORD when flying Global First and connecting to an ANA First Class flight? Tight connection, so assistance would be great..

Seeing you are on an award RTW, in irrops, UA will stick with *A. And it is doubtful they will be able to get another carrier to open F space if it isn't available.

I take it you will have checked bags. What time of year is the flight?

I have never seen this, and on the (very) rare times that I have been in UA F, I have had to fend for myself.

2:15 is plenty of time. My worst time at ORD, with bags, was just over an hour. However, stuck in customs is not "Irrops".

It's next month, in July. I just looked at some Star Options, and it seems its possible to get LH or LX, but have to get back to Europe for that to work. The purpose of this trip is just to fly around in F essentially, so definitely don't want to be rebooked into UA F or something like that when we managed to get NH F.

I assume we have some say into which flights we are put onto, even though we are on an award?

So if you are actually stuck in customs. What happens then? It has happened to us before in the US.. are you just .... out of luck then?

I think the NH flight departs out of Terminal 1 while the UA international arrival is in T5, right?

All international arrivals at ORD are in T5. That said, this is largely irrelevant, as the OP must clear customs and immigration and then reclear security, so the terminal transfer time isn't really a determining factor. Once out of the customs hall, the time to T1 pretty much maxes out at 10 minutes, if you have to wait for a train.

10 minutes is largely irrelevant until it is not :D I think OP is nervous about the 2h15 connecting time. That train that time of the day can be crowded.

If OP came in on UA PF, then I guess OP can use the Polaris Lounge in the C Concourse, right? So, budget time for that :D

Another thing I wonder is if NH will provide any assistance - if not upon arrival at T5, at least clearing security at T1? It might end up taking more time for OP to track them down if OP does not need a boarding pass.

If you’re flying in F once you get to T1, you can use the UA Premier Access security line near door 1F, which is also the *A Gold Track security line. The line is almost always very short.

Only on FT would you have somebody going from FRA-BKK via ORD and TYO. And then desire to switch to EK from ORD and backtrack to DXB to BKK. You sir, are my hero :D

The real question is where are you going after BKK and when. I'm scared for you (and any companions traveling with you) if you're going to do FRA-ORD-HND-BKK-??? without any real stops in between, even in F. If you misconnect in ORD, you can push to take the next day NH via NRT. I never seem to have a problem finding FRA-ORD in LH F when I'm looking for FRA-LAX. Start lookin at 14 days out, and keep checking until departure.

Another obvious answer is skip ORD all together and go through IAH/SFO/LAX but that would require you find NH F space again. So finding FRA-ORD in F is your best bet.

You land at T5
You go thru customs and immigration at T5
You collect your thru checked bag and re check at T5.
If it isn't thru checked, it goes on the train with you to T1
You take the train to T1, go thru security
Go to Polaris lounge

I made it from door on plane open to T1 at Polaris lounge (I had a 5hr layover at T2) in about 23 minutes just last week. I have Global Entry and Pre Check. I would have been quicker, but had to wait for bags.

If you don't have global entry, then add probably 15-20 minutes. (most of that time, you will need for bags anyway.)

2:15 is your layover, you should have tons of time, I mean even if everything went south, it is still tons of time. T5 is kinda nice as all they do is Int'l, so you have zer domestic traffic to worry about, everyone is in the same boat as you and they try and get you in and out quickly.

I remember a somewhat recent thread where the consensus was that it was better to go to Asia via Europe...

yep, totally insane ;-)

FRA-ORD-HND
1 day in tokyo
HND-BKK
1 day in Bangkok
BKK-DXB
- final destination -

To avoid an unnecessary delay in customs, try to avoid bringing anything with you that would attract unwanted curiosity from the customs dogs. My wife had a whole bag full of chocolate and tea, and a rather fat beagle who clearly understood the relationship between "act really interested in smelly luggage" and "get another treat", just about sat on the bag. This got us redirected through agriculture and we had to have everything screened and searched. I was really hoping to avoid all of that, due to the excessive amount of liquor I was bringing back too, but thankfully they paid no attention to that at all. Had all of the bags x-rayed and the suspect bag completely emptied and repacked. Probably only took an extra 15 minutes, but that can make a huge difference on a tight schedule