Can you leave O'Hare on a layover?

You can leave if you have the time, your ticket allows it and your passport gets you in. The airport’s connecting page covers staying inside and says nothing about leaving mid-layover. On an international arrival, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers decide who is admitted. For your ticket, ask your airline.

The CTA Blue Line runs 24 hours a day and takes 40 to 45 minutes to downtown in normal conditions. That’s the ride downtown only.

How long does it take to get downtown?

The CTA puts the walk from baggage claim to the Blue Line at under 10 minutes from Terminals 1, 2 or 3. Add the ride downtown and you’re at up to about 55 minutes, with no time yet spent downtown. That figure doesn’t cover the ride back. It also skips three pieces the airport gives no time for: the walk from your gate to baggage claim, the walk from the station back to a checkpoint and the wait in the security line.

A Terminal 5 arrival also adds a ride on the Airport Transit System (ATS). The airport says the whole line takes about 10 minutes end to end, and trains run every 3 to 5 minutes at peak times. The line runs 24 hours a day, every day. Our terminals page lists each concourse and its gate range, so you can judge the walk from your gate.

CTA’s own comparison chart gives its estimates for the alternatives.

A short layover can’t absorb the slow end of the taxi range. CTA’s chart puts a taxi at around $40, while the airport’s taxi page puts an average fare from O’Hare to downtown at $50. The shared flat fare to downtown or McCormick Place is $30.

Taxis queue at the taxi stands on the lower-level curb outside baggage claim at every terminal. For rideshare, wait at the numbered pole your driver names: orange poles 2A to 2G on Terminal 2’s upper level, or green poles 3G, 3H, 3J and 3K on Terminal 3’s upper level. Our taxi page lists the meter rates and the departure tax.

How do you get to the train?

The O’Hare station is on the lower level, joined to Terminals 1, 2 and 3. From any of them, follow the “Trains to City” signs through the pedestrian tunnels on the basement level. From Terminal 5, ride the ATS, the airport’s free train, to Terminal 2 or 3 first, then follow the same signs. An underground walkway joins the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport, the only hotel inside the airport boundary, to Terminals 1, 2 and 3, and the indoor route carries on to the Blue Line platform. Our CTA Blue Line page notes the elevator to the platform, and our Airport Transit System page lists the train’s stations.

Boarding at O’Hare costs $5, and boarding at any other station costs $2.50 with a Ventra account or contactless payment, so the round trip adds up to $7.50 that way. A disposable single-trip ticket bought downtown costs $3, which makes the round trip $8. A one-day CTA and Pace pass costs $5 and covers boarding at O’Hare with nothing extra, so it’s the cheaper way to go and come back. Vending machines outside the station take cash or credit.

The stop depends on where you’re headed in the Loop. The Palmer House says to get off at Monroe, and Hilton Chicago says Jackson.

Metra’s North Central Service also reaches downtown’s Union Station, but only on weekdays. To board, ride the ATS to the Multi-Modal Facility. A one-way ticket between O’Hare Transfer and downtown costs $3.75 ($1.75 reduced), and a day pass costs $7.50. You can buy tickets at a vending machine, in the Ventra app or from the conductor on board.

How do you get back through security?

On its connecting page, the airport says all international connections go through TSA screening. It doesn’t say what applies to someone who leaves the secure area and returns. Use the checkpoint that serves your next flight’s terminal, which our airlines page lists for each airline. The airport’s TSA Information page lists checkpoint hours and no wait times.

Every checkpoint in a terminal serves all of its concourses: B and C through Checkpoint 1, 2 or 3 in Terminal 1, and G, H, K and L through Checkpoint 6, 7, 7A or 8 in Terminal 3. So plan your return around the terminal’s latest closing time.

The airport says hours can shift with the day’s activity. Our security page lists each checkpoint and its PreCheck and CLEAR lanes.

Liquids you buy downtown follow the same rule as everything else: 3.4 ounces or less, in one quart-size bag.

Carry your bags and have the boarding pass ready

O’Hare lists no lockers or left-luggage service, and Travelers Aid says it can’t store luggage. You’ll carry any bag you take out of the secure area.

The airport doesn’t say what happens to a checked bag when a domestic passenger leaves between flights, so ask your airline before you go.

Have your next flight’s boarding pass in hand before you leave the secure area. The travel document checker asks for it with your ID.

Landing from abroad: getting through CBP

Every international arrival except a preclearance flight clears CBP in Terminal 5 first. The airport says it’s rare for CBP to take more than two hours, though many factors affect how long it takes. Passengers flying in from some international destinations, including several in Canada and Ireland, clear CBP in their departure city. They may go straight to the domestic baggage claim in Terminal 5. Others arriving from preclearance destinations may land in Terminals 1, 2 or 3.

CBP’s ESTA page says an ESTA only determines eligibility under the Visa Waiver Program. It also says you need an e-Passport to use the program. The airport adds that passengers from a country that requires a visa, and first time ESTA passengers, must wait in line at immigration.

After CBP you claim all your bags, even if they’re checked through. Connecting passengers then recheck them. Bags checked through to your final destination go to an airline attendant at the recheck counters directly outside the CBP processing area. If your bags aren’t checked through, United and American passengers can recheck with an airline employee right after CBP, and the airport’s terminal map lists a United re-check desk on Terminal 5’s baggage claim level. Passengers on any other airline carry the bags out of Terminal 5 and recheck them with their airline. The airport says passengers whose final destination is Chicago may leave after customs. It gives no rule for connecting passengers who recheck a bag and then want a few hours in the city.

Sources

• ORD Airport Guide: CTA Blue Line, Airport Transit System, Metra North Central Service, taxi, rideshare, security checkpoints, connecting flights, terminals, Terminal 5 and luggage storage
• Chicago Transit Authority: Airport transit and Blue Line
• Chicago Department of Aviation: Public Transit, Connecting Traveler, International Traveler, TSA Information and Taxi, Limo, Rideshare
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Electronic System for Travel Authorization