chicago o`hare

[yourwelcome]

Anybody used BMI into Chicago and united onto Orlando.

Is it a straight forward transfer?

Do you need to collect luggage at Chicago?

I take it you clear immigration at Chicago.

Any tips always welcome.

 

[Scottish_Maleficent]

Hi
We did United from Heathrow into Chicago and onward to Orlando and let me tell you Chicago OHare is huge and I think one of the busiest airports in the US. Yes you do Immigration there and you also have to clear customs there so what happens is - get off plane and head to immigration hall - there were quite long lines - after you see the immigration official you go and collect your bags then go through customs and then hand over your bags again, for security screening and that is the last you'll se them till Orlando. Then after that you get the train to take you to another another terminal. Then there is more queuing for more security checks - shoes off, bags emptied etc and finally you reach the departure gate. It's like a bus stop - the plane arrives, people get off and then people get on and the plane leaves!!!!!

The good thing is when you arive in MCO you don't have a double baggage drop and don't need to do customs/ immigration again. it's just straight off the plane and get your bags. It is so much quicker!!

I found Chicago airport involved a lot of walking, and although we had more than 3 hours between flights, we had very little time to grab something to eat never mind browse the shops!!!!

HAve fun
Cath

 

[cabmom]

Just wanted to share some info here.
My friend came thru Ohare to Toronto. Somehow, they "lost" one piece of her luggage. Very strange situation. Apparently, a guy found it at a gas station and called her here at my home. He said all it had in it was her phone book and some meds. Everything else was gone, it was all gifts for me that she was bringing over. She kept asking him to call British Airways so they could arrange to pick up what he found and they would deliver it to her here. He refused and said he would mail what he found and she was to get them to stop calling him. Anyway, he did mail some stuff and she got reimbursed 500 pds from the airline for her lost luggage.
I don't know how you would protect your luggage if you have to transfer! She was going from BA to Air Canada.
Enjoy your trip!

 

[lholly]

We flew bmi to chicago and onto San Francisco in August.

The queues for immigration were huge and we waited for over an hour. We had two hours between flights and had to race through the airport to catch the connecting flight.

We also had problems with luggage, when we collected it off the flight we were told by airport staff to leave it along with hundreds of other cases all waiting to be taken on to connecting flights. We had three large suitcases and were a bit wary about leaving them unattended, but because of the tight time between flights we did as we were told. When we arrived at San francisco five hours later, none of our baggage was on the flight.

We were told they were on the next flight from chicago so waited two hours for that. Sure enough, all threee cases arrived but they were all damaged; one case had a huge l shaped rip in it and the clothes were hanging out of it. Luckily, United Airlines replaced all three cases with brand new ones there and then at San francisco airport, but it was very annoying and made the whole journey a very long one because of the delays it caused.

I don't know that there is much you can do personally to ensure baggage doesn't get lost in the flight transfer, but I would suggest having plenty of time between flights and also sharing all your belongings between cases so if one case goes missing you still have clothes etc to wear.

On a more positive note, the bmi flight to chicago was excellent, with good service and entertainment, free drinks all flight, and nice little touches like comfort packs.

lholly