Chicago O'Hare Airport amenities.
Replies: 18 - Last Post: Sep 27, 2012 5:14 PM Last Post By: TravelDreamer2
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Chicago O'Hare Airport amenities.
Hi everyone,I had previously posted about getting a flight from Dublin - Chicago O'Hare and then on to Indianapolis. Without delays and including immigration, check-in, baggage transfers etc; I will have approx 6 hours of a layover in O'Hare airport. I am a single female traveller and will have a laptop as carry-on luggage.
I wonder if you could please let me know what amenities are on-site at O'Hare. I would be keen to have a shower / freshen up at the airport, and would prefer to eat something healthy to help keep my energy levels up for the long day of travelling. I've been to O'Hare before on a very quick stopover and made the error of clearing customs too early and relying on the not so nice food in the departure lounge, so am keen to not make the same mistake again. Also wondering if wifi is free at the airport?
Although I do have 6 hours, I'm not planning on leaving the airport and would prefer to settle in the T3 area, where my Indianapolis flight will depart from.
Many thanks!
1
Chicago O'Hare International Airport Guideby USAToday
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/airportguides/chicago-ohare.htm
. . . Fee-based Wi-Fi service is provided by Boingo.
Eleven free power charging workstations are located throughout the terminals. The work stations have counter space, AC outlets and seats. . . .
. . . Nearby activity for layover: $15 day passes are available for the full-service health club at the Hilton Chicago O'Hare Athletic Club, which is accessible from O'Hare's Terminal 2. In addition to workout equipment, the club has showers, steam room, sauna and a lap pool with Jacuzzi. . . .
Personally I found O'Hare to be a cramped and compact, but remarkably smooth-running airport. As with all airports everything there is overpriced.
2
Your food options are listed at http://www.flychicago.com/PassengerInformation/CustomerService/OHare/FoodAndBeverages.aspx . You will have to decide if you can find something sufficiently healthy from the list.3
Personally I found O'Hare to be a cramped and compact, but remarkably smooth-running airport.
A. You've never been there when it snowed or a squall line when through Chicago.
B. You have a very high pain threshold.
When flying to the west coast, O'Hare is absolutely the last intermediate stop I want. Atlanta, Denver, Dallas-Ft. Worth, St. Louis, or Minneapolis-St. Paul are all better. Since OP is flying in from Dublin, I don't know what her choices may be.
For that matter, OP, it is a 3 hour and 30 minute drive from O'Hare to Indianapolis provided you dodge Chicago's rush-hour. It is a three hour or less drive when all of the Indiana cops are on donut breaks. Why would you waste 6 hours or more at an airport? Rent a car and drive.
6
Consider buying a one day pass in the premium lounge offered by the airline you are flying with. Foe example American's Admiral Lounge costs $50 for a one day pass. I have always thought that too much but I have never had a six hour layover.7
Thanks everyone. I'll be in the airport from 3pm - 9pm, on a Monday.I wonder could anyone tell me more about the Hilton Chicago O'Hare Athletic Club facilities. How far away is this Hilton hotel? I would absolutely love to grab a shower between flights!
zeldasdad - Thanks for the suggestion but I'm not comfortable driving on the opposite side of the road on my own after a long haul flight. I fly to Indianapolis and then get a shuttle bus to Bloomington, Indiana - which is my point of arrival.
8
What time will your flight get into Indy? What shuttle service are you using?If you're planning on using the standard GO express shuttle, be aware that your timing may not work.
Indiana is in a different time zone from Chicago. If your flight leaves O'Hare at 9ish, it won't get into Indy until around 10:30. And that last shuttle leaves at 10:40. Even if you have no checked luggage and your flight is on time, you won't be able to make it across the airport in 10 minutes.
The last Star of America shuttle leaves even earlier.
In fact, looking at flight times on expedia, it looks like you're getting the 8:52 flight on United, which arrives at 10:48 ... after the last shuttle has left. You'll need to overnight by the airport and continue onto B'ton in the morning.
http://www.bloomingtonshuttle.com/airport_shuttle_schedule
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There is also Megabus or Greyhound between Chicago and Indianapolis. Doubt you could make the 3:30 Megabus, guess it depends on when you arrive at O'Hare and your baggage situation.10
Concerning your flight into Indy, I don't know if it's possible to change your ticket (or if you've already bought), or how long you'll need to get through immigration at ORD, but it looks like United has an 8 p.m. flight which would get you into Indy at 10, enough time (if you hustle and the stars are all aligned) to make your B'ton shuttle.Delta may also have a couple of flights that would work -- they depart in the late afternoon and give the scenic tour of America-from-the-Air, but do get you into Indy before 10.
11
Thanks for the tips everyone but I have researched my journey and booked the tickets - hence asking questions about Chicago O'Hare airport and not about getting from Chicago to Indianapolis.- I am aware of the time change.
- I am staying overnight in an airport hotel in Indianapolis and am getting the GO shuttle the next afternoon.
- I do not want to drive because I'm not comfortable driving on the other side of the road while I'm on my own and jet-lagged after a long flight.
- I would prefer to stay in O'Hare airport and get a connecting flight to Indianapolis instead of lugging lots of bags and a laptop through the Chicago transit system to get a bus to Indianapolis, then to have to find my way out to the airport from the bus stop.
I am trying to figure out the best way I can spend my time in O'Hare - amenities, shower availability, internet etc. This is all the information I am requesting.
Thanks.
12
Glad to hear you've got it all worked out.I offered the info because, in my experience, folks from Europe are often not aware that public ground transportation in the U.S. isn't quite what it is over the pond, and may expect/assume that trains run between major destinations every 30-60 minutes, until the wee hours. (A friend from Switzerland was shocked to learn, a few years back, that our train system is ... minimal.)
Enjoy Bloomington. It's a lovely town.
13
If you arrive at the domestic terminals 1-2-3 you can walk downstairs underground at T2 and access the Hilton Hotel. Its a typical business class hotel and has a nice gym/showers etc.If you arrive at T5 the International terminal, you would take the tram to the next Terminal (3) or 2 or 1, and then follow the signs to the Hilton Hotel. You can see the hotel from all the terminals, but you cant get there above ground walking unless you cut thru the parking garages, so best to just follow the signs and access underground via a tunnel. Its is the same area you access the trains to the city, which connects terminals 1-2-3 underneath the baggage claim areas of each terminal.
There is a nice sushi bar between T1 & T2 as I recall after you clear security, but it might be between T2 & T3.
If you are arriving United, then you are in T1 usually.
14
How far away is this Hilton hotel?
The Hilton is on the O'Hare grounds, easily walkable (through the lower-level tunnels) from any of the three domestic terminals. From the international terminal, you can take the airport people-mover train (whatever they call it) to any of the domestic terminals and then walk. T2 is the shortest walk, so get off the train there. They do also have a 24/7 hotel courtesy shuttle, if you'd rather do that.
So you literally could not pick a closer hotel.
--M.
