ORDAirport Guide

Arriving at O'Hare Terminal 5 from abroad

How Terminal 5 international arrivals work: passport lines, bags, customs, re-check desks and the curb. O'Hare's traveler page lists no queue times.

A stainless baggage claim belt beside a round grey column on the dark terrazzo floor of the Terminal 5 baggage claim hall at O'Hare.
Baggage claim, Terminal 5

Landing at Terminal 5 puts you through four stops in a fixed order: passport control, baggage claim, the customs and agriculture check, then the re-check desks or the exit. You collect every bag along the way, even one tagged through to your last stop. O’Hare’s international traveler page gives no queue times and says only that it’s rare for the whole process to take more than two hours.

Which passport line can you use?

If you are Your line What it takes
Arriving from a country that requires a visa, or on your first ESTA The immigration line The airport says you must wait in line here
A U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, Canadian B1/B2 visitor or returning Visa Waiver Program traveler with an approved ESTA Mobile Passport Control, in the line marked with MPC signs A free app and no enrollment
A Global Entry member The Global Entry lines $120 for five years, approved before you travel

Mobile Passport Control starts on your phone. Scan your passport into the app before the trip. Up to 4 hours before landing, take a selfie and answer the declaration questions, and the submission stays active for 4 hours.

One device can submit for up to 12 travelers, so a family reaches the officer together. You skip the paper declaration form, but you still show your passport to a CBP officer, and the app doesn’t replace an ESTA. CBP’s Mobile Passport Control page lists O’Hare among the airports that use it.

Some preclearance flights go straight to domestic baggage claim

Some airports let you clear U.S. CBP before you board. The airport says that includes several in Canada and Ireland, and those passengers may go directly to Terminal 5’s domestic baggage claim. Others flying from preclearance cities may land in Terminals 1, 2 or 3 instead.

After passport control, you claim bags and then clear customs

Porters in white shirts and porter caps help with luggage in the claim area, and they accept tips. Smarte Carte baggage carts are on the baggage claim level. A self-service repair station near the information desk has an air compressor, a tool kit and a padded bench for quick fixes to a bag. Terminal 5’s Arrivals and Baggage Claim level holds the international baggage claim, an oversize baggage area and the airline re-check desks. The airport’s map doesn’t say which belt serves which flight, so ask your airline for yours. Our baggage claim page lists the airline baggage service offices.

Once you have every bag, head for the exit. A CBP officer there sends you to baggage and agriculture inspection. CBP’s Clearing Customs page covers agricultural products, dutiable items and currency reporting.

If you’re connecting, re-check your bags before the next security line

Your bags What to do
Checked through to your final stop Hand them to an airline attendant at the re-check desks just outside the CBP processing area
Not checked through, and you connect on United or American Re-check with an airline employee right after you clear CBP, so you don’t carry them to the domestic terminals
Not checked through, and you connect on another airline Take them out of Terminal 5 and re-check with your airline before the domestic flight

The Chicago Department of Aviation recommends confirming with your airline on the day that your checked bags can be picked up at your final destination.

Getting to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 for the next flight

Terminal 5 has no walkway to the other terminals on the secure side, so the route depends on where you flew from.

Travelers from a preclearance city can stay on the secure side. They board the Terminal Transfer Bus at Gate M13 with a boarding pass for a same-day flight. It runs every 15 minutes from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., with one route to Terminal 1 and one to Terminal 3. Outside those hours they leave security, ride the Airport Transit System and clear TSA again.

Everyone else rides the free Airport Transit System, which runs 24 hours, and clears TSA in the terminal they reach. These travelers can also clear screening at Terminal 5’s Checkpoint 10, open 24 hours, and then ride the Terminal Transfer Bus, the airport says. Its TSA PreCheck and CLEAR lanes have shorter hours. PreCheck runs 3:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and CLEAR runs 4:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sunday to Friday, ending at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Terminals 1, 2 and 3 connect on the secure side, so changing between them needs no new screening. The connections page has the routes.

The airport tells connecting travelers to pack liquids in checked bags before any security line. A duty free purchase over 3.4 ounces won’t pass a TSA checkpoint unless it’s in a secure, tamper-evident bag that officers can screen.

Leaving Terminal 5: rides from the lower-level curb

If Chicago is your final stop, you can leave as soon as customs clears you.

Ride Where it starts and what it costs
Taxi A marked rank on the lower-level curb outside baggage claim. The average metered fare to downtown is about $50, and the shared flat fare to downtown or McCormick Place is $30. A suburban taxi must be booked by phone with a suburban company first, and it collects from the inner commercial lane at Terminal 5.
CTA Blue Line Ride the free Airport Transit System to Terminal 2 or 3, then follow the Trains to City signs through the basement-level tunnels. Boarding at O’Hare costs $5, and trains run 24 hours a day.
Hotel shuttle Shuttles collect at the Terminal 2 Arrivals curb, and some also serve Terminal 5, so ask your hotel. Kiosks by baggage claim call one at no charge.
Pre-booked car The lower-level center lane, lane 2. Call the company once you have your bags, and expect 5 to 20 minutes for the car to reach the pick-up point.
Rideshare Poles on the upper levels of Terminals 2 and 3, reached by the free Airport Transit System.
Rental car Ride the free Airport Transit System to the Multi-Modal Facility at 10255 W. Zemke Blvd. Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Fox, Hertz, National, Payless, Sixt and Thrifty all have counters there.

Whoever is collecting you uses the outermost curb on the lower Arrivals level. Waiting at the curb isn’t allowed, and unattended vehicles are ticketed and towed. They should wait in the free cell phone lot until you call.

If something goes wrong

  • Missing bag: the airport’s map lists baggage service offices for Delta Air Lines and American on Terminal 5’s baggage claim level, plus re-check desks for United and American. For any other airline, ask the airline.
  • Something left in the customs area: the airport’s lost and found list gives (773) 686-3157 for the Terminal 5 customs area.
  • Cash: Seaway Bank runs currency counters on Terminal 5’s lower level (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and upper level (8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.), and two ATMs sit in baggage claim.
  • A service animal that needs a break has relief areas in the sterile corridor before customs and in the international baggage claim.
  • Food: the arrivals level has a Baskin Robbins & Dunkin’ that’s open 24 hours and a McDonald’s that serves from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. At baggage claim, Nuts on Clark runs 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Hudson runs 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and sells chargers and travel essentials.
  • Wheelchair on arrival: the airlines provide it, so arrange it before you travel. In Terminal 5, go to your airline’s own counter. Our wheelchair assistance page covers how to book it.
  • Help in person: the Travelers Aid page lists a desk in the lower-level lobby, staffed Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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