Chicago O´Hare, USA (CHI)

Chicago O'Hare Airport.

For some reason, everybody in the UK wanted to go to Atlanta this weekend so I could not get my usual direct Manchester - Atlanta flight. Out of a number of options, mostly going through Paris or Amsterdam, I decided to go via Chicago on American Airlines (usually I fly Delta) and I've written a separate review about that. I suppose that I chose Chicago just out of curiosity - it is not really a practical choice ...
.../> Prior to landing at Chicago an instruction video explains, more cleary than most, what to expect when you land, what papers you will need to present and when, where the baggage is collected, how to make your connecting flight or how to get into Chicago via the train system or car rental.

We were landing at terminal 5 and in my case I would be going to Terminal 3 to get my connection. First impressions were that this was a very ... more

Chicago O'Hare Airport.

For some reason, everybody in the UK wanted to go to Atlanta this weekend so I could not get my usual direct Manchester - Atlanta flight. Out of a number of options, mostly going through Paris or Amsterdam, I decided to go via Chicago on American Airlines (usually I fly Delta) and I've written a separate review about that. I suppose that I chose Chicago just out of curiosity - it is not really a practical choice as it is in fact 1 hour behind Atlanta, so I was actually flying further west than necessary to get there and then south and east to Atlanta. I did think that I would prefer the longer transatlantic link first on the way out and last on the way back, though.

Prior to landing at Chicago an instruction video explains, more cleary than most, what to expect when you land, what papers you will need to present and when, where the baggage is collected, how to make your connecting flight or how to get into Chicago via the train system or car rental.

We were landing at terminal 5 and in my case I would be going to Terminal 3 to get my connection. First impressions were that this was a very large, functional airport but with a few human touches - along the broad, long corridors that we walked down towards Customs and Immigration, the otherwise bland grey decor was broken up by stained glass exhibits (ranging from pieces salvaged from Europe to, strangely, a modern portrait of Michael Jordan all done in stained glass).

Immigration was very well laid out, long separate queues for the US citizens to multiple booths, but a single winding queue for the Visitors which also led to multiple booths. I've seen this in Atlanta also and would be curious to know why non-US travellers are given the fair approach of a first come/first served system, but the US travellers are given a choice - which queue shall I go on, which one seems to be moving faster (maybe our US cousins are just very competitive, or fatalistic, or inherent gamblers). Perhaps somebody could enlighten me?

Anyway, after only 30 minutes I cleared this passport control layer which I thought was very good as we had arrived at the same time as an Alitalia flight, so there were a lot of foreign nationals in the queue. Immediately behind the inspectors' booths you find the baggage carousels - literally 30 feet away - where my luggage appeared a few minutes later.

Right next to the carousels is the next check - the US Agriculture Department is still very concerned about foot and mouth disease getting into it's country (I'm not aware that we have had any big concerns about it in Europe for quite some time, but if you've ever seen the USA Today newspaper you will know that when it comes to European news, nothing short of revolution or a monarch's death gets printed, so they may not be aware that things have improved from the animal epidemic point of view). After handing in my form declaring that I had not walked through a field/farm/pasture on the way to Manchester Airport (I think this queue took about 20 minutes) I came out into the main arrivals area.

Everything was exactly as the in-flight video had explained it, I followed signs that led me up one floor to the airport train system, where a train arrived almost immediately (the video said one every four minutes) and I got off at Terminal 3 which is the first stop.

Everyone I spoke to was very helpful and friendly - I had about 2 hours to kill so went to the cash machine (after asking directions), checked which gate I needed to be at, got a bite to eat and browsed the shops, so I spoke to at least 6 people there.

The shops included the usual Sun Glass Hut, Hudsons book store, W.H.Smiths (always nice to see a familiar face) and small electrical and perfume shops.

In the food hall area there was quite a good choice, MacDonalds and an "Irish" pub of course, but also outlets selling fresh made smoothies, salads, coffee/pastries, fresh made sandwiches, etc. I went for Panda Express, a chinese food outlet which I had not come across before, with some trepidation as these franchises are usually rubbish - but this one was really good. Fried noodles, spicy beef with vegetables, orange chicken, all came to just USD 6.00. The orange chicken looked like sweet and sour, but in fact tastes quite spicy with a hint of orange/citrus fruit as well - a bit different and very tasty. It must have something addictive in it because I was really looking forward to having some more on my return flight. When my return flight was delayed and didn't allow me any stop over time in Chicago, I was actually disappointed that I didn't get to eat there again! It's okay, I'm over it now and no longer dependent on orange chicken.

The return leg threw up nothing new and as I say, I was only there for as long as it took me to get off one plane and run to the departure gate to get on the connecting flight.

Overall, Chicago O'Hare seemed like a pretty good airport.

 

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