Chicago airport--is 71 minutes enough to catch connection

[Albertan mom]

We only have one hour and 11 minutes to change planes at Chicago airport.
Is that going to be enough?

I guess it would have to be, or United wouldn't make it like that, but it kinda scares me that we might miss our flight. They will hold it for us right??

Thanks!

 

[Vickie46]

I would think that is plenty of time... sometimes you don't have but like 20 minutes.. so I think you will be fine.

 

[texasthree]

Plenty of time. You should have time to get a snack and use the restroom without any problems.

 

[bavaria]

Albertamom, with United from Calgary (I assume, please correct me if I'm wrong so that I can edit for you) you may be flying into the F gates, depending on size of aircraft (I checked for someone from Winnipeg a few months ago and the flight was into F gates)

The United flight from ORD to MCO is a TED flight which leaves from the far end of the B terminal. It's about a 10-15 minute walk from F to those gates, and you should be ok. There is a train too, but by the time you exit, cross the road, go up, board etc you could have easily walked at a moderate pace.

Before the TED gates you will pass a Chili's to-go, Starbucks, bagel place, and hot dog place, plus restrooms. You should have time to stop there.

I fly into/out of ORD every 2-3 weeks and only fly United, so if you have more specific questions feel free to PM me.

(and I've sometimes made it bwn gates with 20 minutes to spare, but admittedly I don't fly in/out of F gates much)

 

[bavaria]

Well, a quick check shows that UA flies into both C and F/E gates from Calgary - based on size of aircraft. There is currently one UA and two Skywest flights a day, so check your flight and you can see where you will fly into (barring chagnes - the gate won't stay the same, but the location will usually stay the same, although B and C can change)

Go to united.com and use the 'flight status' to check sample flights

 

[safetymom]

Most likely they will NOT hold the flight. But you should have plenty of time to get to the new gate.

 

[Albertan mom]

I did it! I booked our flights!

Thanks for encouraging me and making me not feel so stressed about the short layover time. After I read your replies, I phoned and booked the flights!

Bavaria-We are flying out of Edmonton this time. Glad to hear that you like United enough to fly them so often. I didn't know how their reputation was... but they had the best flight times, and better prices then some of the others.

The lady on the phone said we come in at Terminal 2, and have to go to Terminal 1...so sounds like they are close together.

Thanks for all your help. You guys are awesome that you would take time out of your lives to look up flight schedules etc... for me. Thanks sooo much!

I am so excited!!!

 

[bavaria]

Edmonton is definitely arriving at F gates. When you leave the F gates, don't go through security - there is a cordoned off area which leads you to the B/C gates. If you follow that path, you won't need to reenter security. If you're unsure, just ask.

The good news is that you have lots of time - quite often my United flights give me under 40 mins to connect, and I still have time to refresh myself and buy a snack (granted, I don't have children in tow )

Be aware that there are sometimes delays at ORD - in August it may be thunderstorm related. So even if your flight is a little late arriving, it may also be late departing (but don't count on this!!)

TED (United) has great buy on board meal boxes for $5 - so don't worry if you don't have time for a snack. There are also healthier snack boxes like the new RiteBite box which has hummus, pita chips, Ritz type crackers, Toblerone etc so you should find enough to satisfy your family.

 

[Kitty-chan]

71 minutes should definitely be plenty of time. These days United seems to be booking itineraries with "legal" connections of as short as 30 minutes, which always feels tight to me, but so far I've always made it.

DS9 is sitting here with me as I type, and he's reminding me that one of our classic WDW trip moments was a mad, frantic dash to make our flight after a delayed take-off resulted in a 10 minute connection at ORD.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Be aware that there are sometimes delays at ORD - in August it may be thunderstorm related. So even if your flight is a little late arriving, it may also be late departing (but don't count on this!!)

Sometimes is an understatement.