Long Layover - Can I leave the airport?

.ak

Flying next week to Reno, NV. I have a 9 hour layover in Chicago airport. It's an Aerlingus flight to Chicago, with an internal flight to Reno with AA, all booked through eTravel.

Two questions...

1. Can I leave the airport in Chicago? Wanted to go into the city to kill a few hours.
2. Can I check my luggage all the way through from Dublin to Reno?

Not sure if the two are mutually exclusive!

First Up

.ak wrote:

Two questions... Can I leave the airport in Chicago? Wanted to go into the city to kill a few hours.Can I check my luggage all the way through from Dublin to Reno? Not sure if the two are mutually exclusive!

You will probably have to clear US Customs at Chicago so you most likely have to collect your bag there and check it in again.

It then depends how long before your AA flight they will accept your bag - you could ask them.

It would be a shame to be stuck at O'Hare and miss seeing the city. If AA won't take your bag early there might be a left luggage facility but security issues may have stopped that. You should be able to find out on their website.

Pat 36059

You can if, The airlines are part of an alliance ( For your baggage to be checked the whole way through ). I have done this while travelling to Nashville. Just be aware ,Chicago check in is a nightmare, I have never come across any airport like it. They just didn't care and were very unhelpful . I really don't know if id bother to leave the airport, might be too stressful. Id chill ,have a meal and snooze in the airport.

.ak

Pat 36059 wrote: »

You can if, The airlines are part of an alliance ( For your baggage to be checked the whole way through ). I have done this while travelling to Nashville. Just be aware ,Chicago check in is a nightmare, I have never come across any airport like it. They just didn't care and were very unhelpful . I really don't know if id bother to leave the airport, might be too stressful. Id chill ,have a meal and snooze in the airport.

Really? Even if I arrive 2 hours before the internal flight?

Pat 36059

Im just giving my experience, If possible delay your second flight until following day,and get to enjoy Chicago for the day, Otherwise I wouldn't bother.

goingnowhere

If sold as a single ticket Aer Lingus will check your bag through to final destination. Should also get the boarding card for the AA leg also in Dublin from Aer Lingus

You will clear US CBP in Dublin, so the bag will not need to be rechecked enroute

You are free to leave the airport and go downtown if you wish

Chicago can be crazy busy so be sure to be back in good time to get through security. Transfer from International Terminal to the other terminals is outside the secure area so you always go through security again, so makes no difference if you stay at the airport or go downtown, you will have to queue up like everyone else

athtrasna

goingnowhere wrote: »

Chicago can be crazy busy so be sure to be back in good time to get through security. Transfer from International Terminal to the other terminals is outside the secure area so you always go through security again, so makes no difference if you stay at the airport or go downtown, you will have to queue up like everyone else

If you clear CBP in Ireland you land as domestic in Chicago, not international.

First Up

Pat 36059 wrote:

Im just giving my experience, If possible delay your second flight until following day,and get to enjoy Chicago for the day, Otherwise I wouldn't bother.

I've been through O'Hare many times and wouldn't regard it as any worse an airport than anywhere else.

It is very big, with long walks possible. But nine hours is more than enough time to go through it all and still have time to see a good bit of downtown.

.ak

athtrasna wrote: »

If you clear CBP in Ireland you land as domestic in Chicago, not international.

Looking at the airport website you seem to land in terminal 5 as an international travel regardless of visa waiver or not.

goingnowhere

Aer Lingus uses the international terminal even though the flight is a pre cleared flight, no formalities upon arrival just back into the international departure lounge and down the escalator to baggage reclaim

In theory if you had a connecting international flight and were checked in you could avoid security but there are folks on hand directing people

ButtersSuki

There's precious threads on o'hare abd layover time. Have a look for them, general consensus is no btw.

I'd link but on mobile...and in bed...and too lazy!

coylemj

ButtersSuki wrote: »

There's precious threads on o'hare abd layover time. Have a look for them, general consensus is no btw.

There can't be a blanket 'no' to leaving the airport and going downtown, it surely depends on how many hours you have between flights - OP has 9 hours, is O'Hare really that bad?

ProudDUB

Yes, you can leave the airport. You don't have a choice, if you fly into the International Terminal. You have to exit it completely, in order to get to wherever you are going next, be it the other terminals (via the monorail) or to take a cab/bus/train to downtown. Nine hours may sound like a lot, but O'Hare is one of those airports, where everything takes forever. You won't have to queue to go thru Immigration, as you will pre clear that in Ireland. Whether or not you can check your bags all the way thru, depends on whether Aer Lingus have a baggage handling partnership with the airline flying you to Reno. They list their partner airlines on their website.

Yamanoto

coylemj wrote: »

OP has 9 hours, is O'Hare really that bad?

In a word, no.

I've connected through ORD many times and while it's a bit of a rigmarole & the overall passenger experience is less than stellar, getting in to the city for a look around is absolutely doable & you can be on a train downtown pretty soon after disembarking. Allow for an hour each way into the city & the OP will still have a few hours to get a small feel for what Chicago has to offer.

DivingDuck

Can you check bags through to a second airport in the US? I thought you had to pick them up at your first US destination even if you had gone through pre-clearance in Dublin. Would be very happy to be wrong!

Yamanoto

athtrasna wrote: »

If you clear CBP in Ireland you land as domestic in Chicago, not international.

Aside from not having to queue for CBP once disembarked, it's of no benefit for connecting passengers - those landing in T5 still have to go landside, take the monorail to their connecting terminal and then clear security again. There's no sterile transfer possible.

DivingDuck wrote: »

Can you check bags through to a second airport in the US? I thought you had to pick them up at your first US destination even if you had gone through pre-clearance in Dublin. Would be very happy to be wrong!

No pick up is necessary.

Once you've pre-cleared CBP in DUB, bags go through to your final destination.

Batgurl

Most full service airlines these days have an interline agreement (meaning they will share baggage responsibilities) even if they don't have a codeshare agreement (meaning they can ticket the flight).

The only exception to this is low cost carriers like Ryanair, Easyjey, AirAsia etc They generally don't have interline agreements with anyone.

Therefore your bags should be checked through and provided you leave yourself plenty of time to get back and clear security (for a domestic flight though so less laborious), you should be fine. Did it recently in LA with a 8-hour layover!

steve-o

A walk from the door of Aer Lingus plane to the T5 monorail station takes less than 5 minutes. Allowing an hour each way to get to the city, the OP will probably have at least 5 hours to spend there. I'd definitely do it.

grimm2005

Dunno if it helps, but I had a 12 hour layover in JFK coming from Sao Paulo before my flight to Dublin. I was able to check my bags before I left the airport to spend the day in the city. I picked it up on arrival, went out to arrivals and then to check in desk and checked it back in. All flights were with AA.

oh and FWIW I've been to and from O'Hare on 3 occasions (not on a layover mind) and never had any major issues. Certainly not the best airport ever but 9 hours is heaps of time to go see the city for a bit imo.

.ak

Thanks all, gonna play it by ear when I get there and ask the airport staff how busy they expect it to be etc

Fred Swanson

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