Missed your connection at O'Hare: what to do

Start with your airline. The airport’s pages describe no rebooking, hotel or compensation rules. Its terminal map pins American’s Rebooking Centers and the Air Canada and United customer service desks past security. United’s Terminal 1 agent assistance desk is before it.

What the airport says about rebooking

On the terminal map, American has Rebooking Centers at Terminal 3 Gates G4, G11, H16, K6 and K10. Air Canada Customer Service is at Gate E3 in Terminal 2, and United Customer Service is in Terminal 2. The map lists no hours for these desks. United also has an agent assistance desk in its Terminal 1 lobby.

Information desks and Travelers Aid

Volunteers from Travelers Aid Chicago staff these desks on the secure side:

The Travelers Aid page gives these positions. The airport’s terminal map also marks an information podium near Gate B8 in Terminal 1 and an information desk near Gate E2 in Terminal 2, so the table lists only some of the secure-side desks.

The gate desks run Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. On weekends the Travelers Aid page gives 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. Once the gate desks close, the Travelers Aid office in Terminal 2 stays open until 9 p.m., and the desk near Door 4 in the Multi-Modal Facility is staffed 24 hours. The information desks page also lists the lower-level desks near Doors 1C, 2C and 3C, which run 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.

Travelers Aid says its supervisory team helps passengers in crisis make a safe, viable plan, including passengers whose travel plans are interrupted. It does not provide funds for travel. Its Terminal 2 office, across from the Family Lounge, keeps limited baby supplies, clothing and hygiene items and prints travel documents. The office is open Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can reach Travelers Aid at (773) 894-2427.

Which terminal your next airline uses

The airline you’re rebooked on decides the terminal.

The airlines page lists the other carriers and where each one checks in and departs.

If your next flight leaves from another terminal

The Airport Transit System is free, runs 24 hours a day and comes every 3 to 5 minutes at peak times. The whole line from Terminal 1 takes about 10 minutes.

When you clear security again, any checkpoint in the terminal you ride to will do. In Terminals 1 and 3, every checkpoint reaches every concourse, so pick one that’s open. Terminal 1’s Checkpoint 1 and Terminal 2’s Checkpoint 5 close at 11 p.m., and Terminal 3’s Checkpoint 7A closes at 10:30 p.m. The rest close by 8:30 p.m. After 11 p.m. nothing is open in Terminals 1, 2 or 3 until Terminal 2’s Checkpoint 5 opens at 3:15 a.m. Terminal 5’s Checkpoint 10 never closes. Our security page lists every checkpoint’s hours.

Every PreCheck and CLEAR lane closes at or before its checkpoint does, except a PreCheck lane at Terminal 3’s Checkpoint 7. It is the only lane listed past 8:30 p.m., and its checkpoint itself closes at 8 p.m.

The bus carries connecting passengers only, and you need a boarding pass for a same-day departing flight from the terminal you’re transferring to. The bus rule doesn’t cover a flight rebooked for another day. The bus has two routes, Terminal 1 to Terminal 5 and Terminal 3 to Terminal 5. It stops at Terminal 1’s Gate C18B, Terminal 3’s Gates G17 and K20, and Terminal 5’s Gate M13. The airport’s international page says the bus takes preclearance passengers to Terminals 1, 2 or 3, but its bus page lists pickups only at Terminals 1, 3 and 5 and no stop at Terminal 2. For a Terminal 2 gate, ride to Terminal 1 or 3 and walk the secure side. The bus page says pedestrian connections link Terminals 1, 2 and 3.

The walking guide covers the secure-side connections and notes that the airport publishes no walking times.

If you arrived from abroad into Terminal 5, the airport puts customs and a bag recheck before your next security line. Without preclearance, its international page gives two routes: ride the Airport Transit System and be screened at the terminal you connect through, or be re-screened at a Terminal 5 checkpoint and then board the bus. The Terminal 5 arrivals guide walks through that order.

If the rebooked flight is tomorrow

The Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport is the only hotel inside the airport boundary. An underground walkway joins it to Terminals 1, 2 and 3. From Terminal 5, ride the Airport Transit System to the terminal core and pick up the same walkway. The hotel sits before security, so you clear a checkpoint again in the morning. Our Hilton guide covers the walkway and what’s inside.

Shuttles for the other hotels collect at the Terminal 2 Arrivals curb, and some also serve Terminal 5, so ask your hotel which stop it uses. Virtual concierge kiosks on the arrivals level by baggage claim call a hotel shuttle at no charge. The hotel shuttle guide covers which hotels run all night.

If your checked bag missed the rebooked flight, go to your airline’s baggage service office on the Arrivals and Baggage Claim level. United’s is in Terminal 1, Air Canada’s and Alaska’s in Terminal 2, and Delta’s in Terminal 5, where United also 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. Our baggage service offices guide has the table.

O’Hare publishes no lockers or left-luggage service, and Travelers Aid says it can’t store luggage. Plan to keep your bags with you. The luggage storage guide says who to ask.

These places are open all night on the secure side:

• Terminal 1: Starbucks at Gates B5 and B9
• Terminal 2: Starbucks at Gate E2
• Terminal 3: Starbucks at Gate K4 and Dunkin’ at Gate H5
• Terminal 5: EVOLVE by Hudson at Gate M14, a travel-essentials shop

Terminal 5’s all-night food, Baskin Robbins & Dunkin’, is at baggage claim before security. The late-night food guide has the rest.

Sources

• This site: Connecting flights, Information desks, Airlines at ORD, Security checkpoints, Airport Transit System, Terminal Transfer Bus, Hotel shuttles, Baggage claim, Luggage storage, Can you walk between terminals after security, Arriving at Terminal 5 from abroad, The Hilton at O’Hare, Hotels with a free shuttle, Baggage service offices, Luggage storage, Food late at night
• Chicago Department of Aviation: airlines page, on-site hotel page, shuttles page, connecting traveler page, transportation between terminals page, international traveler page, Travelers Aid page, Terminal Accessibility page and O’Hare International Airport terminal map