An Unbelievable O'Hare Experience

[inkkognito]

We're back from our Thanksgiving weekend trip, which I've been fretting over for weeks (my worries were compounded by flight changes and cancellations, since we were booked on United). But now we are back, and I must say: IT WAS A SMOOOOOTH EXPERIENCE!!
I thought O'Hare would be backed, so hubby and I left home at 12:20 to make our 6:30 flight. We got to the offsite parking lot by 1:30 and were at the airport at 2. I thought I was hallucinating, as there were NO LINES!! It was the supposed busiest travel day of the year, but O'Hare was more quiet that it used to be on a typical pre-9/11 day.
We waited 15 minutes at most to check in and managed to switch to a 4 p.m. flight. We even got an exit row. Security appeared to have a hellacious line, but we found another checkpoint with virtually no waiting. We waited longer for them to look through my pin case than we did in the actual line. After thoroughly checking the case, they allowed me to take it onboard.
In Orlando, the lines were even shorter on Sunday. Our flight was delayed by 90 minutes, getting us home at 1 a.m. (ugh!), but I am not complaining. It is enough for me that our flights were safe and uneventful and that we made it through the airport with minimal hassle. I had an upset stomach all morning at work worrying about our travel, and it was all for nothing. Future flyers, don't sweat it! Hopefully things will go as smoothly for you as they did for us.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Bunchkin]

I'm glad to hear your journey through O'Hare (or O'Scare as most of us 'locals' have called it for years and years) went smoothly.
You sure wouldn't think it would have been that empty according to the local news cast. They must look for the longest lines in the airport and then do their live shots by them.

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> You sure wouldn't think it would have been that empty according to the local news cast. They must look for the longest lines in the airport and then do their live shots by them.

But travelers must still be prepared for the worst case. No sense panning the news-cam over an empty airport and then people watching the news go to the airport the next day one hour before flight time and find themselves stuck in a line longer than Epcot's Test Track.

(Boston experience copied from another forum)

An excellent trip to Disney World Nov 17 - 25.

Departed BOS Sat. morning Nov. 17. No wait at ticket counter (Delta Express), half hour wait for other Delta flights. Security line was atrocious (failing grade by my standards) 1-1/2 hours. They were calling people out of line for a few flights as their boarding times came due, and rerouting them to a second shorter line, also a few people upon asking were shown the shorter line if their flights were departing within half an hour. (How many people cheated I don't know.)

Delta flight to Orlando was supposedly oversold but left with about 10 (out of 120)empty seats after a 15 minute delay to accommodate a few more people stuck in the security line. I had an empty seat next to me.

Disney World had healthy crowds, you would hardly believe the US was in a recession.

Returned to MCO Sat. Nov. 24 mid-PM, less than 15 minutes in ticket line. A few foreign carriers had ticket lines 45 minutes long, most domestic carriers had under 15 minute waits. Had gotten to airport 4 hours early because my car rental period ran out. All the while I was there (from about 3 to 7 PM) the security lines for all three gate clusters was never more than half an hour.

Volunteered and got a $350. voucher and hotel room from Delta (Express). Returned next morning around 5 AM to catch next (7 AM) flight to Boston, again Delta security line wait under half an hour, between 5 and 6 AM. No significant lines at any ticket counters I could see. Flight was exactly full with one or two standbys.

Arrived Boston around 10 AM (Sun. Nov. 25) Delta security line under half an hour. Airport ticketing area did not seem crammed with people, I estimated ticket line times were half an hour or less.

I think it makes a difference if you manage to get a seat assignment as soon as possible if a flight is cancelled and you are "automatically" re-assigned, as I was during Delta's flight cutbacks. I didn't and was shuffled several times, first to something I liked which I left alone, then suddenly again a few days later to something else hours away. Only after calling and spending time talking to supervisors was I able to get replacement flights close to the dates and times I originally booked, I did mention that I originally booked about as far in advance as possible (January). I felt that should have given some weight in who got shuffled to which flight, since I had a choice of flights back then and had no way of knowing which would still exist.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[DebbieB]

PIT reported huge lines yesterday morning (Monday), 3 to 4 hour waits at security. By afternoon it was down to 10 minutes. I guess everyone had the same idea - to beat the rush by traveling Monday morning, plus the business travelers.