Repooc17

With GE and carryons only, it really doesn't matter which terminal the plane lands in. Even during rush hours and sometimes long walk from arrival gate to immigration, I have never spent more than 10 minutes to landside in any of the 20+ international arrival airports/terminals, including EWR, ORD, but also other airport entry points throughout the country (JFK, MCO, LAX, SFO, SEA, IAH, DFW, SAN, PHL, MIA, FLL, etc). JFK alone I have "entered" the country in T1, T4, T5, T7, and T8.

Why use EWR if the OP's final destination is in the Midwest?

salty749

Thanks for all the comments so far - very helpful. I am in fact headed west, so ORD seems to make the most sense - the T5 part does suck but I think the bus terminal transfer option is available again vs the train, so hopefully it won't be so bad

iapetus

I really, really, really despise returning to the US via ORD when I am traveling onward from there. The whole T5 part is such a buzzkill. Moreover, to access an onward connection, you have to enter security at T1 with everyone else. As a result, one has to allow a lot of time to connect from an international flight for it not to be a stressful situation. So, in this case, I'd definitely pick EWR over ORD. It's one of the few situations in which I would say that.

Living in southern California, my preference is to enter the country via SFO or LAX (and there are so few direct TATLs to LAX, SFO is usually the option). But if I must route through an East Coast hub, IAD is my preference. Mid-field security there streamlines the connection so much.

Repooc17

You will be landside upon clearing immigration and custom, so the train will be your best option. Just take the short escalator up 1 level and make sure you board the right train - one side goes to rental car/lt parking, and the other goes to T3, T2, T1 (in that order)

I am ex-NYC, but will go to through any airport which will save me money. If you are headed further west, there is no reason to go through EWR and have a longer domestic flight unless you are saving a ton of money.

jonisflying

Just as an FYI, I connected ORD in December and took me ~25 minutes from landing to when I was putting my carry on bag on the TSA PreCheck belt at T1… I wrote about it here.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34845239-post1639.html

salty749

Quick update - there is now an option to connect through IAH (1:53 connection time) - would anyone recommend that option over the ORD/EWR options?

tcdtcd

IAH has far fewer intl long haul arrivals, so customs/immigration is easier than ORD/EWR. And it’s unlikely you’ll need a train transit to onward gate.

iapetus

That's a little tight for me. What's your final destination? That would probably factor in for me were I making this decision.

iapetus

And even if you did need a train, that would all be airside.

salty749

Denver and then on to Jackson Hole

angetenar

I would not favor IAH, having recently done a I->D connection. Customs is nice and empty, but because of the construction, the TSA checkpoint that you get to just by following the signs for connecting flights doesn't have precheck so you either need to deal with that or find some other tsa checkpoint.

bkramt1

During the time when I was not based here, I rarely had issues with IAH connections. As noted, dedicated TSA checkpoint for international arrivals and no pre-check line. But outside that, it's pretty efficient. CBP for me lately has been very quick with mobile passport. If the TSA connections lines are overwhelming, then exit before that and take the underground tram over to Terminal C or D check-in (even Terminal B). The impact of the current construction is that there is no current Terminal E check-in outside of the connection desks. I personally would take IAH.

elmira56925

For me it all depends on the time of the year.

scruffair

FYI the airside inter-terminal shuttle just opened again in both directions. So you now have the choice of going through security right there in T5 and taking shuttle to T1 or you can take the train and go through security at T1. The train as of a few weeks ago is now running at full speed and much faster.

Also, I'm surprised you have issues at T1... my experience is that with a huge Precheck area and a separate Priority non-precheck area, there's usually never a wait.

iapetus

Maybe things are running much more smoothly at ORD security these days. That would be a good thing.