<p>I need to arrive in Chicago at terminal 3 (Alaska) and then leave from another airline (United) with an hour and fifteen minutes to make the flight. This will be midafternoon on a Thursday. Is that doable (assuming my flight into Chicago is on time)? I will have only my carryon bag.</p>
<p>Is that an hour and fifteen minutes from arrival to departure? If so, you will need to be at your departure no later than 20 minutes or so prior to takeoff, so that will leave you with about an hour or less, IF your flight arrives on time. The United terminal is huge, but there are a few United gates that are on the main concourse where you don’t have to take the underground walkway (which is waaaay cool) to the majority of United gates. Even if you know the United gate information before you leave Alaska, it could always change while you are in the air.</p>
<p>Since I never change planes at O’Hare (only depart or arrive since I live in the area), I’m not sure if you have to leave a secure area to transfer between terminals, but I think you do. Going through security again will take time also. </p>
<p>Your plan is very doable, as long as everything goes your way. Of course, even if your Alaska flight is late, your departing United flight could always be late, too, and you could make it. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks, teriwtt. Yes, first flight gets in at 2:30; second flight leaves at 3:45. I once spent 8 hours stuck at O’Hare with a six-month-old baby so that airport worries me.</p>
<p>Isn’t O’Hare the busiest airport in the U.S? Looks like you will have to get from terminal 3 with Alaska to terminal 1 for United. I’ve changed planes many times at O’Hare but never airlines. I’d say you have an excellent chance of making it with the big provision that your arriving flight gets in on time and I mean to the gate, not touching down. Unfortunately, when they post a percentage of on-time arrivals, that means when they touch down, not when they make it to the gate. I hate it when you arrive and then you sit there waiting for a gate to clear… Have a safe on-time flight!</p>
<p>One more piece of advice that I add, and this might be overkill, but knowledge can be power. Before you leave, I’d create a list of all flights leaving O’Hare to your next destination, on all airlines. If you are late arriving, and miss your connection and have to rebook, you will have in hand the information you need. My experience has been when you approach a ticket counter to rebook, and seem to know what you’re talking about and what your options are, you’re more likely to get to your destination quicker. If for some reason you are stuck at O’Hare and there are no more flights out to your destination that day, ask about Midway. Midway never gets backed up like O’Hare, so if there are weather delays, and O’Hare flights are delayed 2-3 hours, Midway might be delayed 20-30 minutes. There is a shuttle between O’Hare and Midway. It’s just helpful to know your options.</p>
<p>A couple of weeks ago my husband’s afternoon flight from Boston to O’Hare was canceled (not weather related); the airline told him the soonest they could get him on a flight to Chicago was 6PM the next day. He told them to check other airports, and luckily there was a flight out of Manchester the next morning they could get him on. So he rented a car and drove to Manchester that night and got home much earlier than had he stayed at Logan.</p>
<p>Doable, yes. I don’t know anything about that airport, but 2 years ago at age 16 daughter arrived in the international terminal at OHare alone on a late arriving plane, with two huge suitcases, the need to clear customs, and less than 40 minutes overall to recheck her bags and make a connecting flight at a domestic terminal located on the other end of the airport. </p>
<p>That is the day her father and I learned that there is no way to contact any live person at any terminal at OHare by phone from outside the airport. Despite panicky cell phone calls from the daughter, there was nothing we could do. (We naively thought we could call and have the airline send a staff person to assist her. No such thing.)</p>
<p>But she made her flight. </p>
<p>So “doable”… yes. If all goes right. That doesn’t mean the same as “easy”.</p>
<p>excellent suggestion teriwtt! It’s very frustrating to try to find out information about other flights at an airport. I know I have suffered from laptop envy in those situations. If at all possible, I would try to fly out on Southwest instead of United. No penalty for changing flights and they are so nice!</p>
<p>Thanks, all! I will definitely make a list of other options in case of difficulties–that is a great suggestion. I don’t have too much flexibility re airlines b/c I am flying to a smaller airport to meet up with my sister and visit my elderly aunt who just lost her husband. But there are other smaller airports I could fly to if I miss my second flight.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Southwest does not fly out of O’Hare, only Midway.</p>
<p>kathiep: I realize the OP didn’t have a choice with Southwest since she was flying from Alaska, but I totally agree with you. Back in June, my D and I were in Philly trying to get back to Midway on the Friday that the air traffic control computer system went out for the whole East Coast for every airline. It was a nightmare, as on our way to the airport, our rental car was hit by a semi-truck cab on the interstate. We declined a trip to the hospital as we just wanted to get home - four days earlier we had been in Dallas for the funeral of my nephew who was killed in a car accident. When we got to the airport, Southwest was willing to allow my D and I preboarding based on the police report I held in my hand showing we were in the accident, and were extremely sore.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, once we finally taxied for an hour and a half, and were about five planes from takeoff, we had to return to the terminal due to an ‘disruptive’ passenger. Some drunk moron would not stay in his seat while we were taxiing and got ornery with the flight crew. Police escorted them off, but by the time the incident report was filled out, we would not have been able to take off and arrive at Midway before they closed for the night. So we were rebooked for the next morning.</p>
<p>We did not expect Southwest to do anything to compensate us for the delay, as the computer glitch and the arrested passenger were not their fault. About three weeks later, both my daughter and I each received a round-trip ticket for use on Southwest anywhere they fly. </p>
<p>That was truly the week from hell.</p>
<p>IllinoisMom2006 - that’s why I suggested she consider Midway for rebooking if she can’t get out soon enough from O’Hare. Not just Southwest, but the airport in general does not have the delays O’Hare does.</p>
<p>also, have the number so you can call, sometimes calling can get you on another flight if many other people are in line waiting</p>
<p>we made a flight in Dallas in 10 minutes from one terminal to another, my D runnng ahead of me, she almost took out a big ole cowboy</p>
<p>the hardest thing is getting off the plane at the gate, if you have slow people ahead of you</p>
<p>also, DOUBLE check the gate, don’t assume it is the same as the time you checked in, they can change and you can run to the wrong gate, even terminal</p>
<p>so, when you land, take a minute to look at the board and if is different from your boarding pass, ask someone</p>
<p>It’s doable but not probable.</p>
<p>I went from Hong Kong to Phila 2 weeks ago, through OHare, which is one of the overall worst airports. I had one hour forty minutes in Chicago to catch my Phila connection. I wasn’t even close. I checked the clock and it took me 2 hours 40 min to get through customs and security so even tho Phila flight left late, i was way over. You won’t have to deal with customs so you may make it. But Ohare is notorious for late flights, so your second flight will most likely be late.</p>
<p>I would check later flights (before your trip) from Chicago just to save time. If you’re flying first class (I happened to be, and this was United) flight crew will get you on a later flight and give you your ticket on the way out of the plane landing in Chicago. That was a nice touch I appreciated after 14 hours in the air.</p>
<p>I have walked the entire length of OHare to change flights in less than 15 minutes, so I don’t expect you’ll have too much problem. I’ve never had to go through security when changing flights there either, so I don’t see why that would be an issue. </p>
<p>Back when my kids were UMmies (their nickname for unaccompanied minors) flying from Seattle to Maine, they ALWAYS had to change planes and sometimes airlines… Never missed a connection, although once it was close (they had fourteen minutes to change terminals, if I remember correctly).</p>
<p>Thanks, dmd. That’s actually what I wanted to know, if I could walk from one end to the other in a reasonable time. I’m not from Alaska, just flying Alaska Airlines into Chicago.</p>
<p>I live in Chicago and go thru O’Hare several times per month. Alaska airline is, like you said, in terminal three. United Airlines is located in terminal 1. There is a tram system that connects all the terminals. Its like a little train thing. You will have to go thru security again when you reach terminal 1, which sucks because lines there can be extremely long. </p>
<p>It’s completely doable, assuming your flight is on time, which it might not be. I’ve had a lot of flights arrive late at O’Hare. The usually land on time and have to sit on the runway waiting for a gate. I’ve had several times at O’Hare where I’ve come very very close to missing a flight. Once I couldn’t find any parking and had to park at the farthest lot (Lot F), had to take a bus to lot D, and then had to take the tram to terminal 1. By the time I arrived at terminal 1, I had 15 minutes to check in, go thru security, and sprint to my gate, which was the farthest one down (I think Gate 17). I’m sure people found it very entertaining to see a teenager sprinting full speed thru the airport carrying a backpack, her belt, and her shoes. lol :D</p>
<p>I agree about double checking the gates when you get thru security in terminal 1. I almost got on a flight to Kentucky once when they changed the gate for my flight to Los Angeles. </p>
<p>Here’s a link to a map of O’Hare.<br>
<a href=“http://www.flychicago.com/ohare/concessionsohare/pdf/Terminal123.pdf[/url]”>http://www.flychicago.com/ohare/concessionsohare/pdf/Terminal123.pdf</a></p>
<p>The orange line is the Airport Transit System route, which is the train that connects the terminals. The ATS icons show where you board the tram. The tram ride doesn’t take very long at all, about 5 minutes at most. The trams come every 10/15 minutes. </p>
<p>Hope this helps. :)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend walking from terminal three to terminal one.</p>
<p>teriwtt,</p>
<p>Sorry, my bad. That’s what I get for skimming. You are absolutely right about Midway, although depending on the time of day, the trip between the 2 airports can be really long.</p>
<p>I just checked the O’Hare terminal maps and Alaska Airlines uses the L concourse of Terminal 3, which is the furthest away from Terminal 1. However, their gates are right by the main terminal so you wouldn’t have to go all the way from the end of a concourse: <a href=“page-not-found”>page-not-found;
<p>You would then take the inside track all the way over to Terminal 1, which can be done if you’re a fast walker and can dodge people well. I just found someone online who said it can take up to 15 minutes to walk between terminals. If you go out and take the tram it may or may not be faster but going back through security is always a gamble in my opinion - really depends on the day of the week and the time of the day. Plus sometimes the trams have delays.</p>
<p>It also looks like United runs a shuttle between Concourse E in terminal 2 and concourse C in terminal 1 which might save time if it still runs and you’re leaving from a C gate. <a href=“http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,1113,00.html[/url]”>http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,1113,00.html</a> From what I read (never took it myself), it departs from the bottom of a staircase between gates E3 and E4 in terminal 2 (next to the TV monitors listing departures), and the shuttle arrives near gate C9 in Terminal 1. It’s supposed to run every 10 minutes or so.</p>
<p>Make sure your flight attendants knows you have a tight transfer and they may help you get off the first flight quickly.</p>