Chicago O'Hare Airport

Very old very outdated very antiquated. The long lines the shuttling between terminals the lack of plugs for cell phones and lap tops and the rude staff was enough to make me never go through there again. Please update this tacky monstrosity and modernize it.

Generally I complain about Chicago's airports but this time I had no issues. Staff was quick and efficient and I was able to be through everything very rapidly. Luggage was quick and waiting for me upon my return no problems at all. Food choice could be better.

Terminal 5 is an absolute nightmare for non US travelers. United booked my flight with a 1.5 hrs connection. Flying out there was a uniformed man who called passengers off our flight to a free immigration booth after waiting for half an hour. Since there were many hundreds of people jammed into the immigration hall we would never have made our flight. Coming back no such luck. After waiting for 45 minutes in the incredible line up which appeared to consist of a thousand people I pleaded with the girl directing US residents and she let me into this line. After picking up my luggage and re checking with united I had twenty minutes to get to terminal 2 before my flight left. I still had to go through security in terminal 2. I made it just but my baggage didn't. How can they possibly justify having two customs officials to deal with this enormous number of people.

We passed through this airport twice in a week once from UK and then from Mexico. On both occasions we were met by huge queues for passport check both times taking 2-3 hours to get through. As we made our way towards immigration we were ordered by a young lady to 'stand against the wall' get against the wall'. We queued there for about 45 minutes before getting to a hall best described as a cattle market crammed with hundreds of visitors. People were taking photos of the unbelievable crowd. Only about 1/3 of passport desks were manned. It took 2 hours to get through the queue plus the 45 minutes in the corridor. Many people were missing connecting flights. When they asked staff what they should do they were rudely told 'stand in line there's nothing you can do you just have to catch the next one'. I guess for some that meant spending the night in the terminal. One parent tried to offer food to their bored child only to be ordered to 'put that food away- no food' because they were using sniffer dogs. There was not a hint of courtesy politeness or helpfulness in any of the staff. US citizens seemed to be getting through in about 15 minutes. This was obviously not an isolated incident since it was the same on both occasions we passed through. This is the worst airport I have ever passed through. They should not be allowed to take international flights if they think it is reasonable to treat the passengers this way.

We arrived from UK with about an hour to get off the British Airways flight get through immigration collect our cases hand them in again and get to the next terminal by the transit train. As we taxied to a stop the pilot said all those with immediate connecting flights would find an orange envelope on the wall when we got to the end of the airbridge just wave this as we went through the airport and we be rushed through. I have to say it all worked like clockwork. As we approached immigration a lady directed us into a short queue of about ten people. (The main queue snaked around for several hundred yards). We were through in about ten minutes and although our luggage with the red labels came after numerous ones without we found the new bag drop counter and jumped on the train to the next terminal. Our flight boarded whilst luggage was still turning up on the tarmac but when we arrived at New Orleans. The success of this was due to having both flights booked by BA so they were responsible for getting us to the final destination. From previous reports I had read of Chicago I had no faith in making New Orleans on this last flight of the night so I can only say thanks to BA and the staff at Chicago for making the experience efficient and pleasurable.

Arrived at O'Hare from London yesterday to face longest immigration line that I've ever seen in many years of travelling worldwide. In essence it took me 3 hours of waiting to be processed! Yes I repeat 3 hours! I can only say that I was appalled to be treated so badly. Is this the way to treat visitors to the US who are a vital source of revenue for the country? I love Chicago and the US but was very disappointed by the complete disregard for visitors shown by US Immigration management. The solution is simple: employ more people and have sufficient staff on at busy times. The people who were in that line yesterday all went away with a very bad impression and will no doubt avoid flying into Chicago in the future.

Got to airport 2.5 hrs early for an early evening American Airlines flight to Tampa. T3 security was good (got through in 20 minutes) but our gate (K1) has virtually no seating. Gate is located right outside security but there were less than 50 seats at the gate which is typically used for mainline flights. Most other gates have sufficient seating however. There is a decent choice of food but the majority of it is (at least in T3) located in a food court where Conc. H and K split off from each other and could possibly be a 5 minute walk to the food court not to mention the wait to get your food.

I read all the recent reviews and thought ORD would be horrendous but contrary to the reviews the airport worked well! My family of 4 arrived in T5 on Sunday 30 Dec 2012 afternoon after more than an hour's delay in Heathrow London due to a technical fault with the aircraft and half expected to miss our flight connection as our original transit time was only 3 hr. Well we got through Immigration in 45 mins (we are all non-US citizens) retrieved our luggage from the carousel without a hitch and passed them to the United Airlines staff waiting there. We got to Concourse C for our flight to Atlanta albeit with only 20 mins before scheduled flight time. We didn't meet any unhelpful or brusque staff and we were pleasantly surprised that the airport's transfer systems (for luggage and passengers) all worked as they ought. As a bonus the airport also has a good choice of dining places plus the fun brachiosaurus in Concourse B.

The worst airport I have transited through. If you're coming to the USA through this airport and you're not a citizen or a green card holder - avoid. I transited through this airport twice and each time the wait at immigration was over 2 hours. If you don't want to miss a connecting flight you need at least a 4 hours layover to be on the safe side. I missed a flight and the airport personnel refused to help me to make it on time.

Flown into Terminal 3 and then waited for others at Terminal 1/2. Although it is not a fault of anyone this airport is just unreliable especially in the winter anyone can lose connections due to delays that can be triggered not just by snowfalls but also by mere rains coupled with low visibility. I was affected by exactly that and ended up arriving at O'Hare an hour late. Airport's location itself is already a reason to avoid this airport especially for connections. The airport offers a cheap rail link into the downtown in addition to the expressway option and considering the frequent congestion's on the expressways around Chicago sometimes the metro option is a must for travelers. Except for T5 - the international terminal - the other terminals are also nicely grouped together in the central terminal area so walking over to a different terminal is not that difficult at all there is a free and efficient Airport Transit System that links all terminals and the remote parking lots. The terminal facilities however can have some upgrades to be more appealing. Airside had seating available for passengers around each gate but landside had a very limited number of benches. The wifi was not free and even when I wanted to pay for it the signal was not even strong. The power ports were virtually non-existent. Flight information displays were lacking both in terms of its quality and its size. Information was incorrect for some delayed flights. Some flight information was not even clear as to which terminal they were expected to depart/arrive many first-timers would be in trouble finding their ways to the correct terminal/gates. Other aspects of evaluation seem to be on par with or slightly worse than most other major airports in my opinion. In short I would discourage others from flying in and out of ORD unless it is unavoidable (e.g. Chicago is their final destination). Except for the superior availability of flight options from United and American I would always choose other major hubs over ORD.