[russia06]

After 2 hours on hold with US Air, and being told that I have to go to the local airport to make a change in Frequent Flier tickets, then a trip to the local airport to be told first they can't find our existing reservation, then being told I have to change the reservation over the phone, and then another 2 hours on the phone with USAir I was finally able to book our flights for trip 2, with a big question regarding the route. . .

When booking our return flight, we have to connect through Chicago O'hare Airport. We will be arriving on Lufthansa (International) and departing on United (Domestic). I have heard nightmare stories regarding O'hare. I guess we have a couple questions:

1. What is immigration like when we enter the US with our son? How long will it take? How much time do we need to leave to make the connection?
2. How easy / difficult is it to connect from International to Domestic through O'hare. I see they have a seperate International arrivals terminal. Do we have to carry all our luggage to the Domestic terminal, or is the transfer automatic, or at least easy?
3. Since it will be us with DS, how bad of a day are we looking at?

Thanks,
JB & RB

[Katie63011]

I can only speak about immigration. We went through Chicago on our first adoption and Atlanta on our second. Chicago was much quicker and the immigration workers were much more pleasant.

Regardless of your next leg/airline, you will have to recheck your luggage. I am not sure if you switching to another carrier will really make a difference.

Good luck, I know it can be frustrating!

katie

[crispex]

I completed our adoption in Oct '06 and came through O'Hare. The process of immigration took about 30 minutes after we were off the plane. Then again our flight was the only international flight arriving at that time (7-8 am). Staff was very friendly.

You will have to grab your luggage before going on to your domestic terminal (luggage carts are provided through the international terminal. There are trains that take you between the different terminals (I would suggest using them). Your layover is probably a few hours, so making the connection should be easy enough.

Our daughter was 3 1/2 at the time of adoption and she was great. She people watched most of the time. The only concern I had at the time was that she would stare at people with dark skin tones, especially black people. We would try to distract her from staring, but she would go right back to it as soon as she was bored with our improvised game.

Good luck!

[Jamie_McCue]

I fly into O'Hare about once a month, I'm originally from Chicago so visit often. I'm not sure how their immigration works but as for domestic flights it is really a crap shoot. At least 75% of my flights in or out are seriously delayed (2hours). There has been a lot of cases where other passengers on the flights were connecting and missed their connections because of the delays. And about 50% of the time they put my bags on another plane and they end up being delivered to me the next day sometime.

O'Hare is really really busy, their staff is definitely not there to help you out and it is hard to navigate for newbies. I'm used to it since it's the airport I've used since I would go on summer vacations as a kid.

I hope this doesn't scare you, just prepare you. Good Luck!

[boatsun]

John became a US Citizen when we landed at O'Hare and we had about two hours until our flight to Dallas left. This was on a Tuesday evening around 5pm or so. Rush Hour for the airport. The security lines had us scared since they were so long. It only took about 30 minutes at immigration to get John's paperwork in order and we had plenty of time to get to our flight.

[nungesser]

I live in Chicago and travel through O'Hare frequently. We also returned home from Russia on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt.

You will arrive at Terminal 5, the international terminal. It was professional and efficient when we went through in June 2005. A lot will depend on how many flights arrive at te same time as you and how full uyour own flight is. We were among the last to get in the cueue to go through passport control becuase we had to wait by the jetway a long time for AB's stroller.

The BCIS officials also had to pull us aside to process AB's paperwork from the think manila evnelope they gav us at the US Embassy in Moscow and told us to not open under any circumstance and hand to the BCIS officer at passport control.

However, this delay allowed our baggage to get on the carousel by the time we emerged from passport control. Beware, there are multiple carousels and where you baggage may be and they do not always label them well. So keep your eyes peeled for your bags on a carousel not labeled for bags from your flight.

You then go through customs and some sort of sensor that screens you bags to see what you are bringing into the country. It's like the explosive sensors they putbags through when you depart. I think they say they are loking for fruits and vegatables that may have parasites in them, but I really have no idea what they are actually looking for.

All in all I'd say to shcedule at least 60-90 minutes from the time they open the door on your aircraft until you are out into the public area.

Then you need to get from Terminal 5 to your domestic departure gate. There is a people mover that moves passengers from one terminal to another. It works well, but I've been alone when I used it, not strung out from a trip from Moscow with a lot of baggae and a child.

I suggest looking up what services are availabe at O'Hare at the airport website. You may be able to find a porter service to help you with your bags, etc. I would definately call ahead and reserve and confirm their service beforehand. Call again to confirm before departing from Frankfurt.

Also check with your domestic airline's website to see which O'Hare terminal they have their gates at. This will give you an idea approximately how far you will have to go.

You will have to re-check your bags so you will need to allow time for that. If you are going soon, you are alwo likely to encounter weather delays at O'Hare. That may help you make a connection, but be prepared with food, drink, diapers (if applicable), and entertainment for your child if you have an extended layover.

I have a driver who usually takes me between my work or home and O'Hare. He can pick you up, help you with your bags and get you from Terminal 5 into your domestic departure terminal. That service will probably run between $50 and $100. But it will be on-time, clean, safe, and reliable. He will get you where you need to go with the absolute minimum of burden and stress. PM me if you are interested and I will put you in contact with my driver.

The bottom line is that the more you know about O'Hare, where you need to go from and go to, and the route and services to help you get from one to the other, the less hassle you are going to have at O'Hare.

[pequele]

I believe the minimum ALLOWED connection time allowed between flights is an hour. I have had travel agents book international flights with connections with less than a hour to have the airlines rescheduled them with at least a hour out. I have been told by the airlines this is the minimum time they require. This is from mulitple carriers. Air France, Delta, US Air, United, Lufthansa and Air Italia (or whatever that one is called). Not to say that you can do it in a hour anywhere, they just know you can't do it in less and would rather rebook you BEFORE the day of your flight to minimize what they already know...you will not make it through and meet your connection in less than an hour! If you are arriving in the middle of a "rush" probably the more time the better. I had a 3 hr layover in Paris once....between my arrival arriving a half hour late, immigration with I have abosolutely no idea how many other planes, then returning to the passenger screening for within EU travel, I NEARLY MISSED MY PLANE! They were shutting the doors! You really will never know how much time is enough time until you are on that connecting flight!

Trust me, having some time to hit the bathroom/changing rooms, getting some food and stretching your legs will be nice BUT we all know no one enjoys the 6hr sentence of sitting in any airport either .