ORDAirport Guide

Pre-booked cars and limousines at O'Hare: where the driver meets you

Claim your bags, call the company, then meet on the lower level in lane 2. The plate number, the 5 to 20 minute wait and where to find a company.

The sloped steel canopy over the lower-level curb at Terminal 3 at O'Hare, where pre-booked drivers meet passengers.
Pickup lane, Terminal 3

With a pre-booked car at O’Hare, the order is bags first and the phone call second. The airport says to call the company once you’ve claimed your luggage, and the company tells you where to find the car. The driver meets you on the lower level, in the center lane the airport calls lane 2.

How the pickup works

  1. Call the company. It gives you some mix of a license plate number, a description of the car and a door number.
  2. Go to the lower level center lane. The airport says pre-arranged cars can only meet passengers at designated areas there.
  3. Expect a wait. The airport says it can take between 5 and 20 minutes for the vehicle to reach the pickup location, depending on airport traffic.

The airport tells taxi riders not to accept rides from drivers on the departure level, which is the second level.

When the driver comes to baggage claim

Some limousine services send the driver into baggage claim, or to another pre-designated pickup spot inside it. The driver helps with your luggage and takes you directly to the vehicle. The airport provides livery parking directly across from each terminal, and it says the walk to the vehicle is typically 5 to 7 minutes. Ask your company which kind of pickup you’ve booked.

Finding a company when you haven’t booked

The airport says limousines serve both Chicago and suburban destinations. It posts a list of pre-arranged limousine services near the information booths across from Door C, on the lower level of each terminal. The airport’s accessibility page puts lower level information desks near Door 1C, Door 2C and Door 3C, open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. The airport doesn’t say whether the list can be read after they close.

At the ride boards, the airport says, you contact the company of your choice to make a reservation. It publishes no fares for pre-arranged cars, so the company is the only source for a price before you book.

Which pickup point goes with which ride

You booked You meet at
A black car through a rideshare app The lower level of all terminals, the airport says
A rideshare car Upper level poles, orange 2A to 2G at Terminal 2 and green 3G, 3H, 3J and 3K at Terminal 3
A taxi The stand at the lower level curb front, outside baggage claim
A suburban taxi The lower-level, middle commercial lane at Terminals 1, 2 and 3, and the inner commercial lane at Terminal 5

The airport lists rideshare poles only for Terminals 2 and 3, and our Uber and Lyft guide covers what to do at Terminals 1 and 5. Our taxi fares guide explains how suburban cabs are called and priced.

Sources