Asking for a relative...

Proposed flight is a domestic flight on United into ORD, connecting to a SWISS flight out of terminal 5 with 2:07 for the connection. I thought there used to be an airside bus from T3 to T5 - is that still in place? I live in Chicago so almost never connect here, but this sounds a little tight to me, with little room for error. Thanks for any advice.

The airside bus from T1 and T3 to T5 is suspended... supposedly will restart later this Spring or Summer depending on demand. A two hour connection shouldn't be any problem even if using the landside train. I doubt T5 security will be all that bad because if traffic is that high then, supposedly, they'll have restarted the airside bus to deal with the demand.

Thank you. This is for a relatively last-minute work trip in a couple of weeks.

can you direct me to the Midwest forum please

See the pinned thread at the top of the Midwest forum:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/midwest-455/

thanks Jim

I'm flying HPN-ORD-SFO in two weeks with a 48 minute connection in ORD. I expect the White Plains flight to land in Concourse F and the San Francisco flight to depart from Concourse C. Thankfully, the ORD-SFO flight I'm on isn't the last of the day so I assume I'm protected against delays. I've done the C-F run before and know I can make it in about 15 minutes.

Looking to the experts: is this connection too tight to gate-check my carry-on on the regional jet? Should I just plan on checking my bags all the way through at White Plains? Is there any risk my checked bags won't make the connecting flight?

Which aircraft type do you have for the first flight?

CRJ-200 HPN-ORD
773 ORD-SFO

Sadly, the 550s haven't made it to White Plains yet.

With that connection time, I would check my bag.

Another vote for checking. It's going to get tossed around the hold anyway, and I would not want to gamble the connecting on unloading of the CR2. Plus if you check, less to worry about if you board ORD-SFO late.

Bags in general make connections more often than pax because route can be more direct and there is no T-15 offload.

I’m not too worried about bin space on the 772 since I’m in J, but I hear you that it’s not worth the unload risk since the majority of pax are going to be gate checking on that flight I’m sure.

I guess one question is if something goes sideways would you rather:

(A) Make your flight but your bag doesn't -- it's hub-hub and you mention there's another flight later that day, so bag gets delivered to your hotel/house 4-12 hours after you arrive, and you are reimbursed for any immediate replacements you need to buy. Small chance the bag days a day or two to make it.

(B) Miss your flight because you were waiting for the gate checked bag. You are gambling that there is room on the later SFO flight, you will lose your seat assignment, and you will arrive late. Also the stress of waiting for the bag / annoyance of running through the terminal. But zero percent chance you get separated from your bag.

Obviously the specifics of your trip and the contents of the bag are important here, the answer isn't going to be the same for everyone -- you need to look at the failure mode as well as the failure probability.

I can think of various trips I've taken where I would opt for one vs the other.

QR to UA Domestic @ ORD T5
 

Arriving from DOH but need to transfer bags from QR to UA (TVC) after re-check on 2 different tickets. I have only used the bag drops at T5 and only with AA and OW.

So, I need to physically check in with a UA agent @ T5, if possible. Can I do that at a desk on the lower level, or is it merely a bag drop facility?

I have *A via an AA-ANA status match if that makes any difference. The thought of schlepping 4 bags to T1 is not appealing, and I can do an AA connection, but at a huge price difference.

TIA.

with a separate ticket you will have to go to a UA check-in desk and get your bag checked in (pay any fees), not a bag-drop. Bag drop needs a existing, valid bag tag. Don't know if the UA check-in at T5 will take domestic bags or not.