ORDAirport Guide

Flight canceled at O'Hare: your next steps

Rebook with your airline. O'Hare's map pins American, Air Canada and United desks past security. Hotel shuttles and terminal transfers are covered too.

The white drum with round portholes, slanting columns and oval skylights in the main hall of Terminal 5 at O'Hare.
Main hall, Terminal 5, O'Hare

Before anything else, contact your airline. The airport’s pages describe no hotel voucher or overnight service for stranded passengers.

Start with your airline’s own channels

  1. The airport’s airlines page links each carrier’s website for flight updates and reservations.
  2. To rebook in person once you’re past security, the airport’s terminal map pins American Rebooking Centers at Terminal 3 Gates G4, G11, H16, K6 and K10, Air Canada Customer Service at Gate E3 in Terminal 2 and United Customer Service in Terminal 2, with no gate given. The map lists no hours for them.
  3. Verify a cancellation with your airline, not the airport’s flight search. The search’s disclaimer says the airport assumes no responsibility for relying on it and tells you to contact your airline to verify flight status. It adds that terminal and gate data come from a third party.
  4. If you’re still before security, the airlines page lists where each airline checks in. United’s Terminal 1 lobby on the Departures and Check-In level has an agent assistance desk, and a group check-in desk sits on the Terminal 1 Arrivals level.
  5. If you checked bags, the airline baggage service offices are on the Arrivals and Baggage Claim level: United in Terminal 1, Air Canada and Alaska Airlines in Terminal 2, and Delta in Terminal 5, where United has a baggage re-check desk. American’s baggage assistance desk is in Terminal 3’s baggage claim. For other airlines, ask the airline, because the airport’s map files some offices under airlines that no longer fly or in terminals that don’t match their flights.

Get online and charge up while you rebook

Wi-Fi is free and unlimited in all four terminals, before and after security. Join Boingo Hotspot or _Free_ORD_Wi-Fi, open a browser on an unsecured web address and choose Watch Ad to Connect. For power, free seated workstations with AC outlets sit at gates such as B5, C15, E8, G13, K9 and M13, with four to eight seats each.

Information desks can point you and help in a crisis

Volunteers from Travelers Aid Chicago staff the information desks. The gate desks run Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Travelers Aid page gives weekends as 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., while the Terminal Accessibility page says 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., so plan on the earlier close. The desk near Door 4 in the Multi-Modal Facility is staffed 24 hours. The information desks page lists every desk by terminal.

Travelers Aid says its supervisory team supports passengers in crisis to create “a safe, viable plan”, including passengers “experiencing interruptions in travel plans.” Its Terminal 2 office, across from the Family Lounge, keeps limited baby supplies, clothing and hygiene items and prints travel documents. It’s open Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the number is (773) 894-2427. Travelers Aid does not provide funds for travel.

A hotel with a shuttle

The Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport sits across from Terminals 1, 2 and 3. The airport says underground walkways reach all the domestic terminals, and that from Terminal 5 you ride the Airport Transit System first. The Hilton guide covers the walk.

Other hotels send shuttles. The airport says all hotel shuttle pick-ups have moved to the Terminal 2 Arrivals curbside, and some shuttles still collect at Terminal 5, so ask your hotel which. To request a pick-up, the airport’s Hilton page points to the Virtual Concierge Kiosks on the arrivals level by baggage claim, at no charge.

Hotel Shuttle Pick-up
Loews Chicago O’Hare Every fifteen minutes, 24 hours a day, no booking Terminal 2 lower level, middle lane near door 2C
Staybridge Suites Chicago O’Hare Airport 24 hours a day, every half hour, booked ahead with the hotel Terminal 2 lower level, door 2E
Sonesta Simply Suites Chicago O’Hare Airport 24 hours a day on request, so call once you have your luggage Terminal 2 arrivals curb
Hilton Rosemont/Chicago O’Hare 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays, to 10 p.m. at weekends Not stated
Super 8 Chicago O’Hare Airport Early morning until midnight, booked by calling the hotel Not stated

The Super 8 shuttle doesn’t run in the small hours, so an overnight arrival should budget for a taxi. Hotels that list no shuttle, such as the avid hotel in Des Plaines, expect a taxi or rideshare. The airport’s taxi page says taxis wait at the lower level curb outside baggage claim and warns against rides offered on the departures level. For a downtown hotel, the airport puts an average metered taxi fare at about $50, and the CTA Blue Line runs 24 hours a day and costs $5 to board at O’Hare. The taxi page lists the meter rates.

Crowne Plaza, DoubleTree by Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport Rosemont, Embassy Suites Rosemont, Hampton Inn & Suites Rosemont, La Quinta, Sonesta Chicago O’Hare Airport Rosemont and Wyndham Chicago O’Hare also list a free shuttle, but none states hours, so call before you count on one late at night.

The hotels-with-shuttle guide compares them, and the hotel shuttles page covers the pick-up curb.

If your new flight leaves from another terminal

The Airport Transit System links Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5. Between Terminals 1, 2 and 3 you stay on the secure side and follow the overhead signs. Between 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 a.m., the airport says, passengers connecting between Terminal 5 and the other terminals must exit security, ride the train and clear a TSA checkpoint again. From 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. the Terminal Transfer Bus keeps you on the secure side if you hold a boarding pass for a same-day flight from the terminal you’re transferring to. The walking guide covers the secure-side links.

If you’re staying in the terminal for the night, the late-night food guide lists what’s open.

Sources