Newark Airport / Chicago O'Hare

Mahell

Hi,

Just looking for a bit of travel advice. I'm flying to Colorado in the New Year and was originally going with Aer Lingus with a layover in Chicago and a transfer to American Airlines for the internal flight. However, coming back the layover is less than 2 hours and I've heard that security through O'Hare takes forever to get through.

That prompted me to look at Continental Airlines which also flys from Shannon, with a stop in Newark airport instead with an approximately 3 hour layover there and back.

So really what I want to know is, is O'Hare as bad as reports indicate and is two hours far too little time, as I suspect it is.

And if I go with Continental, is Newark easy enough to navigate and as I'm staying with the same airline are my bags switched between planes automatically or do I need to recheck them before I'm boarding for Denver?

And that's it. Thanks

halfinch

If travelling between and international and domestic flight in chicago 90mins is the recommended connection time bu the airport authority. If you book a throught ticket i.e one ticket for your entire journey and one refernce number then your bags will be checked through to your arrival regardless of which airlines you use.

Hope this helps

rossie1977

Mahell wrote: »

Hi,

Just looking for a bit of travel advice. I'm flying to Colorado in the New Year and was originally going with Aer Lingus with a layover in Chicago and a transfer to American Airlines for the internal flight. However, coming back the layover is less than 2 hours and I've heard that security through O'Hare takes forever to get through.

That prompted me to look at Continental Airlines which also flys from Shannon, with a stop in Newark airport instead with an approximately 3 hour layover there and back.

So really what I want to know is, is O'Hare as bad as reports indicate and is two hours far too little time, as I suspect it is.

And if I go with Continental, is Newark easy enough to navigate and as I'm staying with the same airline are my bags switched between planes automatically or do I need to recheck them before I'm boarding for Denver?

And that's it. Thanks

o'hare is not all that bad, especially the international terminal which i have flown out of a few times. Security was much worse in other US airports i have visited e.g. orlando. 2 hour layover is cutting it fine though especially if the weather is bad in either chicago or colorado which it probably will be at that time of year.

even though newark gets bad press and is consistently ranked as one of the worst airports in the states i would go with the 3 hour layover just to be sure and on the safe side, better to be waiting around for 3 hours rather than miss your flight.

Normally if you are flying with the same airline your bags will be checked through at the start and you won't need to recheck them. I flew AA from San Antonio to Dublin with a stop-over in Chicago then Chicago-dublin via Aer Lingus and I didn't have to recheck the bags as i had purchased the entire trip as one-ticket on travelocity

kaimera

You'll have to recheck bags at your first entry point into the US.

Personally, I dislike EWK, I find Atlanta much better for getting around and being quicker with everything but I'd take the 3 hour lay over to cover the unknown.

highlydebased

EWR is grand- Continental have their own terminal. You will need to reclaim your bags usually and place them on the transfer belt on the way out.

3 hours is plenty

Also if you fly EI to ORD from SNN you'll end up stopping in Dublin also, and have to get off to go thru emigration which is a pain the backside.

gandalf

Personally I would avoid O'Hare at all costs. It is by far the worst Airport in the US I have gone through. Just back from Vegas and travelled over via Atlanta and found them to be very organised. Came home through Newark and it was ok.

Third_Echelon

gandalf wrote: »

Personally I would avoid O'Hare at all costs. It is by far the worst Airport in the US I have gone through. Just back from Vegas and travelled over via Atlanta and found them to be very organised. Came home through Newark and it was ok.

Yeah, the domestic terminal in O'Hare is a disaster. Busiest domestic airport in the states as far as I know. I would tend to avoid it when traveling in the states.

Newark is fine. I've had some problems with Continental in the past, so personally I wouldn't use them, but for your itinerary, it sounds like the best option.

Usually if you come off an international flight in the states and are then transferring to a domestic flights you have to pick up your bags and bring them to the transfer belt/desk.... Ask at check-in in Dublin about this.

FlutterinBantam

As Kameira said..You must clear customs at the first point of entry.
This means claiming your bags and then handing them back to the connecting airline.

Zaph

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

As Kameira said..You must clear customs at the first point of entry.
This means claiming your bags and then handing them back to the connecting airline.

Yep, and at O'Hare it took forever when I was going through there, we thought we were going to miss our flight it took so long. Didn't matter in the end, the flight was delayed by 4 hours, however O'Hare is a pretty crap airport to be hanging around in for that long.