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50 min o'hare connection using a wheelchair

50 min o'hare connection using a wheelchair

Old May 2, 2019, 6:07 am
  #1  
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50 min o'hare connection using a wheelchair

Hey everyone

I have a fight from Detroit to anaheim with a 50 min transfer in Chicago. The layover is only 50 mins and my daughter will need a wheelchair

Are we at risk at missing the flight? I would assume that the gates are close to each other as the flights are united.

Thanks
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Old May 2, 2019, 6:34 am
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Originally Posted by Wowza55433
Hey everyone

I have a fight from Detroit to anaheim with a 50 min transfer in Chicago. The layover is only 50 mins and my daughter will need a wheelchair

Are we at risk at missing the flight? I would assume that the gates are close to each other as the flights are united.

Thanks
Hi Wowza55433. Welcome to FlyerTalk!

50 Minutes is a tight connection. United flights use Terminals 1 and 2 at O'Hare. They are connected via a walkway, so no need to go through any TSA security during the transfer. But it can take 15 minutes to walk between the furthest gates. If you need to wait for wheelchair, this obviously lengthens the time.

On the plus side, United does pad their flight times quite a bit, so there is a good chance you will arrive at ORD prior to the stated time...and hopefully a gate will be available so you can actually get into the airport early.

If you are on a single ticket, United will eventually get you to CA if you miss the flight. In the future, it would be much less stressful to choose an itinerary with a longer connection time.

There is an entire thread dedicated to connections at ORD which you may wish to peruse...

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...al-ord-30.html

Good luck.
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Old May 2, 2019, 6:47 am
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While this ticket is within MCT, under the subjective circumstances, it is well outside SCT (Sensible Connection Time). UA will rebook on the next available flight to SNA, but there are only three such nonstop flights per day. In addition, UA might offer to send you to LAX or SAN if you wished, but that would be up to you.

The complicating factor here is the wheelchair. ORD is a huge airport and UA is its largest carrier. As others note, the time between gates walking at a good clip can be as much as 15 minutes. A wheelchair may complicate and delay that.

Only you know the specifics of your daughter's disability and what that means in terms of a wheelchair, but I would call UA and ask them to change your flights so that you have a good solid 2-3 hours on the ground at ORD. Make certain that your daughter's needs are already in the PNR notes and that you make reference to this when you call. This builds in time for some delays and means that the stress is removed from the trip.
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Old May 2, 2019, 6:54 am
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With O'Hare rebanking, I see more and more 45-60 min connections. It's great when you're on time and a otherwise disaster.

Is your flight early? If it is there will be other flights to Orange county and several more flights to LAX
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Old May 2, 2019, 7:12 am
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Thanks everyone for the prompt reply.

Yes I have called and made the notes regarding the requirement for the wheelchair. They put us in the front of the plane and I will be able to take the wheelchair on the flight with us.

The flight is early lands at ohare at around 7 am central time

I'm hoping the gates are close below is our flights of it helps.

DET to ohare ua5799 arriving at 6:58 am central time
Ohare to sna ya 1769 departing at 745 central time.

Is there historical data to see what gates these arrive at or is it random?

Thanks
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Old May 2, 2019, 7:35 am
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Originally Posted by Wowza55433
Is there historical data to see what gates these arrive at or is it random?
It's random, except that mainline flights (flight numbers < 3000) are generally out of Terminal 1, and United Express flights (flight numbers 3000-7000) are generally out of Terminal 2.
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Old May 2, 2019, 7:37 am
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Originally Posted by Wowza55433
Yes I have called and made the notes regarding the requirement for the wheelchair. They put us in the front of the plane and I will be able to take the wheelchair on the flight with us.
Are you providing/using the wheelchair through the airport, or are you waiting for ORD to provide one for the transfer? If the former, I think 50 minutes is a tight connection but still reasonable as long as you aren't suffering a major loss if you misconnect. There will be many more SNA/LAX options later in the day.

If you have to wait for service at the gate in ORD, that alone could eat most of your connection time and I would think it too risky.

Originally Posted by Wowza55433
Is there historical data to see what gates these arrive at or is it random?
It's mostly random, but I think if both flights are mainline they are much more likely to use B/C.
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Old May 2, 2019, 7:41 am
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Originally Posted by findark
It's mostly random, but I think if both flights are mainline they are much more likely to use B/C.
The inbound flight from DTW is United Express.
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Old May 2, 2019, 7:42 am
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Google "ua5799" and you'll see that this morning's flight arrived at terminal 2, gate E6. Flight 1769 departed from terminal 1, gate C25. It's a long walk from one to the other. The Detroit-O'Hare flight was on an Embraer 175, a midsize regional jet. Are you sure the agent said you could bring the chair into the passenger cabin? They're normally gate-checked and brought up from the hold to the gate at the arriving airport. My son rides a wheelchair. He can walk onto and off the plane but can't stand for more than a few minutes. Our practice is to wait for most of the passengers to disembark before getting off. This makes getting off easier and allows the ground crew time to bring the chair up to the jetbridge. I wouldn't try to get off ahead of other passengers because the chair is still making its way up.

You can get wheelchair assistance through the airport. Whether that ends up being faster than going on your own depends on whether the assistant shows up on time and how fast you and your daughter can go.

I think you have a decent chance of making your connection but you shouldn't be surprised if you don't. If that happens, United will rebook you on the next available flight. Their next nonstop to Santa Ana leaves at 4:09 PM. Today's flight has six seats available, but no seats together. While someone might be willing to move to let you and your daughter sit together, you can't count on that.
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Old May 2, 2019, 7:45 am
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Originally Posted by ajGoes
Are you sure the agent said you could bring the chair into the passenger cabin? They're normally gate-checked and brought up from the hold to the gate at the arriving airport.
I'm trying to imagine where a wheelchair would fit in the passenger cabin on an E175 and I'm drawing a blank. I have to imagine that the agent meant "you can gate-check it and it will be available in Chicago," not "you can carry it onto the aircraft."
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Old May 2, 2019, 7:51 am
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https://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL5799

Gates are going to be pretty random.
5799 has been used as the flight number for DTW->ORD for the past week or so. Looks like half the time it has arrived in B (Terminal 1)....half the time it arrived in E(Terminal 2)

Your flight to CA will be mainline, so will be in Terminal 1...either B or C gates.

Last edited by goodeats21; May 2, 2019 at 8:41 am Reason: typo
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Old May 2, 2019, 7:58 am
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ORD is my home base. I wouldn't book a 50 minute connection time and I don't have the consideration of a wheelchair. Good summary above on the potential/likely gate situations but even if flights are on time doing an E to C connection with a wheelchair would seem really tight. Given that it doesn't take much in the way of irrops to delay you 10-15 minutes, I think that's probably the only real buffer you have to work with. The positive mitigating factor of it being an early AM arrival which means hopefully whatever ~6AM flight was supposed to push off that gate will likely be gone (and the gate will be open) just given that fewer things can generally go wrong with those first flights of the day.
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Old May 2, 2019, 8:01 am
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Don't they have the wheelchair "carts" at ORD anymore? (I have not been on one in a LONG time, as Grandpa_1780 doesn't fly much anymore)
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Old May 2, 2019, 8:02 am
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If your daughter is able to walk short distances (a few feet) it might be less risky to check your wheelchair to the final destination, and have UA provide a wheelchair service at the jetbridge.
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Old May 2, 2019, 8:07 am
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If you misconnect, the next nonstop is at 4:09 PM. There are connections available via IAH, DEN, and SFO, but a second connection may be a tiring hassle given the wheelchair situation (all a matter of your daughter's situation).

At this point, I would suggest calling UA back and expressing concern about the connection time in light of the wheelchair. Presuming that you are on a standard penalty fare, UA might well waive any change fees and the new flights might be relatively the same cost as what you hold.

Your options, all depending on how you and your daughter handle things physically are to fly into ORD on the last flight the night before and then fly out on the first flight to SNA (what you hold now). There is a Hilton attached by tunnel to the terminal and that makes the logistiics of an overnight manageable. Alternatively, you could depart from DTW just a few minutes later and fly via DEN. That connection is not that much longer, but the logistics of a connection at DEN on UA are easier than regional to mainline at ORD (most likely).


It costs nothing to ask and to specifically ask whether UA will waive the change fee (if there is one). If by some chance, this is a flexible fare, making the change should be easier and cheaper.
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