ORDAirport Guide

How long do you need to connect at O'Hare?

O'Hare publishes no minimum connection time. Terminals 1 to 3 connect behind security. Terminal 5 takes the train, or the bus 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The checkerboard floor of Concourse B at O'Hare in patches of sun and shade, with a steel column and a cafe chair.
Concourse B, Terminal 1

O’Hare doesn’t publish a minimum connection time. Terminals 1, 2 and 3 join on the secure side, so a switch among them needs no second screening. Terminal 5 doesn’t join them, so any trip to or from it takes the Terminal Transfer Bus or the Airport Transit System (ATS), the airport’s train.

None of the airport’s connecting, transfer, train, international or TSA pages gives a walking time between gates. For a domestic connection on two different carriers, its connecting page says to contact your airlines. Ask them what your ticket allows.

Start with your two gate letters

Find the first letter of each gate, then read across. That letter gives the terminal.

Gate letters Terminal How it reaches the others
B, C Terminal 1 Walk the secure side to Terminals 2 and 3
E, F Terminal 2 Walk the secure side to Terminals 1 and 3
G, H, K, L Terminal 3 Walk the secure side to Terminals 1 and 2
M Terminal 5 Terminal Transfer Bus or ATS

Our terminals page lists each concourse and its gate range. Until your gate is posted, our airlines page shows where each carrier checks in.

Terminals 1, 2 and 3: follow the signs

Overhead signs mark the way between the three terminals. The airport lists the same route for a domestic arrival connecting to an international flight.

Getting to and from Terminal 5

Terminal Transfer Bus ATS
Cost Free Free
Runs Every 15 minutes, 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily 24 hours a day, every 3 to 5 minutes at peak times, which the airport doesn’t define
Stops Terminal 1 (Gate C18B), Terminal 3 (Gates G17 and K20), Terminal 5 (Gate M13) Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5, plus the Multi-Modal Facility
Screening None, because you stay on the secure side You leave security and are screened again at the next terminal
Rules Connecting passengers only, with a boarding pass for a same-day flight from the terminal you’re riding to The airport lists none

The bus has two routes, Terminal 1 to Terminal 5 and Terminal 3 to Terminal 5, and both run in each direction.

The airport’s bus page lists no Terminal 2 stop. For a Terminal 2 gate, ride to Terminal 1 or 3 and walk on from there. The airport doesn’t lay out that route or give its time.

The airport gives one ATS ride time, about 10 minutes end to end from Terminal 1 to the Multi-Modal Facility. It publishes none for a single hop such as Terminal 3 to Terminal 5.

Checkpoint hours when the bus isn’t running

Terminal Checkpoint Hours
1 1 3:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
1 2 4 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
1 3 3:45 a.m. to 8 p.m.
2 5 3:15 a.m. to 11 p.m.
3 6 3:45 a.m. to 8 p.m.
3 7 3:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
3 7A 3:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
3 8 4 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
5 10 Open 24 hours

From 11 p.m. to 3:15 a.m., the only checkpoint the airport lists as open is Checkpoint 10 in Terminal 5. A ride on the ATS from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1, 2 or 3 in that window ends at checkpoints listed as closed. The airport says hours can shift with the day’s activity and asks you to check with your airline. It doesn’t say what a connecting passenger does when the checkpoint at their terminal is shut. The PreCheck and CLEAR lane hours are on our security page.

Landing from outside the U.S.

The airport’s international arrival steps start in Terminal 5, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) works. The airport says the time varies, but it’s rare for immigration and CBP to take more than two hours. It gives no typical time.

  1. Clear immigration.
  2. Claim all your bags, even if they’re checked through.
  3. Clear customs and agriculture inspection.
  4. Recheck your bags, as below.
  5. Take the ATS to Terminal 1, 2 or 3 and go through TSA screening there.

Instead of the ATS, you can be screened in Terminal 5 and take the Terminal Transfer Bus while it’s running. Pack liquids in your checked bag before you’re screened again. Duty free over 3.4 fluid ounces gets through the checkpoint only in a secure, tamper-evident bag that officers can screen and clear.

Where you recheck depends on your ticket.

  • Checked through to your final destination: drop the bags at the airline recheck counters directly outside the CBP area.
  • Not checked through, connecting on United or American: recheck with an airline employee right after you clear CBP, which saves carrying the bags to the domestic terminals.
  • Not checked through, connecting on any other airline: take the bags out of Terminal 5 and recheck them with your airline before the domestic flight.

The airport recommends confirming with your airline on the day that your checked bag can be picked up at your final destination.

Some departure cities clear U.S. customs before the flight leaves, which the airport calls preclearance. It says several in Canada and Ireland do this. Those passengers can go straight to the domestic baggage claim in Terminal 5, though some land in Terminal 1, 2 or 3. If you land in Terminal 5 from one of those cities and your next flight leaves from Terminal 1, 2 or 3, the airport’s International Traveler page says the bus gets you there without leaving security or being screened again.

Help along the way

Each airline coordinates its own wheelchair assistance, and the airport says it can help you travel to or transfer between gates. Airport information desks sit on the secure side of each terminal, past the checkpoints. Our information desks page lists where.

Sources