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Ohare International Terminal Sucks.

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    • We went on ski trip one year and flew into the old Denver airport (Stapleton) which closed in 1995 when they built the new one, and was I surprised that the mens room still had pay toilets. You needed to have change on you if you wanted to sit in privacy. They were nice enough to keep the urinals free of charge, though. (Now I'm wondering how they handled the womens room.)

      Thats my personal worst airport.
      2,000 miler
    • odd man out wrote:

      Old, cramped, hot, and not enough windows to get good views of your plane. Aviation enthusiasts are not impressed.


      Well you're obviously not in a business class lounge.......... That's the problem. I've spent a lot of hours in the Air France lounge there. It's not overly nice, but it'll do. Keeps you from having to associate with riff raff. Hey, if you going fly like poor people ...you're going to be treated like them.

      Now I understand there's actually a another level for VIPs. Private lounges for them and their entourage, private passageways. Etc.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Muddywaters ().

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      I never met an airport terminal that I liked.
      Everything seems to go smoother in a small sized airport.
      Near me Manchester NH > Boston if the price is right.

      Flew back from Bakersfield (Meadows Field) on my last PCT hike. That was such a superior experience to LAX, it was worth the extra connection. Even the TSA was smiling there.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Astro wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I never met an airport terminal that I liked.
      I always sort of appreciated getting to go back into them after the plane safely landed. ;)
      I came close to kissing the carpeting at O'Hare on my way back from China more than once. Like a wedding in Duncannon, it's all relative(s). :D

      Does O'Hare now have a dedicated international Departures terminal? There is an International Arrivals terminal, but I've always flown to Asia from Concourse C which is a mix of International and Domestic.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • Terminal 5 at Ohare is used for all international arrivals, but is also used for many international departures.

      Yes, small airports are nicer. For my GC hike I flew to Flagstaff where you walk off the plane, across the tarmak, and into the terminal. If you go through the left door you are arriving at "Gate 2". If you go through the right door you arrive at "Gate 1".

      On this trip we connected at Vienna, which is not a major hub for overseas flights so the connection was pretty easy and miraculously our checked bag (and us) actually made it from GRR to ORD to VIE to PRG. I doubt that would have happend via LHR, FRA. or AMS.

      Business Class Lounge is not a concept I am familiar with, hence the name "OMO".
    • Around 1999 I had a missed flight in Ohare. It was something. Me and a work friend were flying from Dallas/Fort Worth, to Ohare, then on to a small airport in New York, where we had a car rented to drive to Poughkeepsie NY to be briefed on some new stuff by IBM at their lab. The flight out of DFW was delayed about 45 minutes (IIRC). But the pilot made up about 10 minutes of that. We landed to, no gate for a time. By the time we got off, we had about 30 minutes to jog down one arm of Ohare and out the other. We jointly decided we did have time for a bathroom break but "Only one shake". We jogged up to the departing gate with 15 minutes to spare to see the plane pushing back! The gate person on the phone to the ground crew begging them to inform the captain that two MORE people just ran up. There was something like 8 people standing there who had also just run for the plane. Would the captain comply? NO WAY! About a minute later the room darkened and the gate people got a VERY concerned look on their face. Just walking up behind us was some man, about 6 feet and 8 inches tall, as wide as three people, decked in gold chains, a fur coat, sun glasses, a lovely lass and about four other people with him. Some pro wrestler and his entourage! Again on the phone saying "But now we have 16 people here, and flight time is in 8 minutes!!!!". NOPE, he's leaving. Considering it was one of the smaller commuter type jets, the pilot left about 40 percent of his passengers at the gate. WWE guy walked over to rebook into like JFK or something. The gate guy looked at what we were trying to do and just said "Looks like you have 4 hours of drinking at Ohare before we can get you...." Since we were into that small airport. Funny most of the other people who got left, were also heading to that small airport. Instead of landing at like 6 PM, it was 10 PM. Two of the three car rental places were DARK. People with us started commenting about "NOW what". But the Enterprise was lit, we walked up and sure enough, she not only had our car, a VERY dedicated and smart Enterprise person had called her boss, said there was 2 or 4 clients delayed out of Ohare, PLUS whoever else was on the plane since the other rental places closed up! She rented to everyone on that plane. Hope she got a bonus.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • odd man out wrote:

      Terminal 5 at Ohare is used for all international arrivals, but is also used for many international departures.

      Yes, small airports are nicer. For my GC hike I flew to Flagstaff where you walk off the plane, across the tarmak, and into the terminal. If you go through the left door you are arriving at "Gate 2". If you go through the right door you arrive at "Gate 1".

      On this trip we connected at Vienna, which is not a major hub for overseas flights so the connection was pretty easy and miraculously our checked bag (and us) actually made it from GRR to ORD to VIE to PRG. I doubt that would have happend via LHR, FRA. or AMS.

      Business Class Lounge is not a concept I am familiar with, hence the name "OMO".
      The Business Class Lounges are nice. 8) When I managed projects all around the world (Brazil, Singapore, China, Scotland, Germany) I used to fly a lot. One time they were almost too nice when I fell asleep in one in Tokyo and almost missed a flight. :/
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • May have told y'all this story before, but I got to spend about 30 minutes in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale "security lounge". Way back in college my roommate and best friend and I flew to Ft. Lauderdale for spring break. Layover in Atlanta. We drank. Back on the plane we drank more. My buddy cannot hold his liquor and thought it would be funny to talk about going to Cuba- , this was 1979, and seeing his good buddy Castro. Well when the plane landed US Marshals boarded the plane and detained us and took us to the security area and interrogated us. It didn't take them long to figure out my friend was just drunk and kidding around and they finally released us with a severe warning. Things only got wilder that week but that's another story in itself.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • We flew last week and there was a marshal seated behind us. He was on the plane when we got on but I wondered why he kept getting up while people were boarding to assist with overhead storage, then I noticed his shirt. Nice guy. His seat mates were a mom and a small child and they talked. He'd been on planes since 5 AM CST that day. He did look like he napped on the 2.5 hour flight.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork

      The post was edited 1 time, last by rhjanes ().

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      May have told y'all this story before, but I got to spend about 30 minutes in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale "security lounge". Way back in college my roommate and best friend and I flew to Ft. Lauderdale for spring break. Layover in Atlanta. We drank. Back on the plane we drank more. My buddy cannot hold his liquor and thought it would be funny to talk about going to Cuba- , this was 1979, and seeing his good buddy Castro. Well when the plane landed US Marshals boarded the plane and detained us and took us to the security area and interrogated us. It didn't take them long to figure out my friend was just drunk and kidding around and they finally released us with a severe warning. Things only got wilder that week but that's another story in itself.
      Just don't do this JJ...

      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • jimmyjam wrote:

      May have told y'all this story before, but I got to spend about 30 minutes in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale "security lounge". Way back in college my roommate and best friend and I flew to Ft. Lauderdale for spring break. Layover in Atlanta. We drank. Back on the plane we drank more. My buddy cannot hold his liquor and thought it would be funny to talk about going to Cuba- , this was 1979, and seeing his good buddy Castro. Well when the plane landed US Marshals boarded the plane and detained us and took us to the security area and interrogated us. It didn't take them long to figure out my friend was just drunk and kidding around and they finally released us with a severe warning. Things only got wilder that week but that's another story in itself.
      Short term I might have been considering him an "ex"-buddy. X(
      But long term you have a neat story to share now. 8)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      May have told y'all this story before, but I got to spend about 30 minutes in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale "security lounge". Way back in college my roommate and best friend and I flew to Ft. Lauderdale for spring break. Layover in Atlanta. We drank. Back on the plane we drank more. My buddy cannot hold his liquor and thought it would be funny to talk about going to Cuba- , this was 1979, and seeing his good buddy Castro. Well when the plane landed US Marshals boarded the plane and detained us and took us to the security area and interrogated us. It didn't take them long to figure out my friend was just drunk and kidding around and they finally released us with a severe warning. Things only got wilder that week but that's another story in itself.
      Short term I might have been considering him an "ex"-buddy. X( But long term you have a neat story to share now. 8)
      We are still best friends. I talked to him today. He literally lives about six houses from the trail in Daleville and has never hiked any of it. But he has shuttled Slingshot and I multiple times in Virginia. He's a great guy. Just don't let him have any whiskey on a plane
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • odd man out wrote:

      on the other hand...

      miraculously, our checked bag actually made it from GRR to ORD to VIE to PRG, and our bags gate-checked at GRR made it to the gate at ORD.
      Amazing.
      Our flight last week was direct. I was still "Worried". My cousin had gifted me a bottle of my favorite bourbon, which was packed in the middle of my bag. I figured my bag would be dripping bourbon, missing, or "Searched".
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • IMScotty wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I never met an airport terminal that I liked.
      Everything seems to go smoother in a small sized airport.Near me Manchester NH > Boston if the price is right.

      Flew back from Bakersfield (Meadows Field) on my last PCT hike. That was such a superior experience to LAX, it was worth the extra connection. Even the TSA was smiling there.
      Security lines are usually much shorter and much easier at small airports. Unfortunately it's not uncommon to wait an hour or more in security lines at busy airports. The number of people in line at 4:00 in the morning at O'Hare boggles the mind sometimes. LGA as well. I came back from an Alaska cruise a few weeks ago, was off of the ship at 7:35 a.m.. at SEA-TAC by 8:30 via lyft. Then 1 hour plus to get through security........

      Right before covid I flew back from New York through White Plains airport. The ticket was cheaper. At one point I was the only person in the departures area. Everybody there shows up about 30 minutes before the plane leaves. 45 minute Uber from the city but much easier time at the airport.

      I flew into Bakersfield for my JMT hike. I really don't understand why more people don't take that option other than the probably higher cost than SFO. Today most people are flying into FAT though. It worked out great I was able to get an evening flight after work to Bakersfield. Then taxi to a hotel, get up the next morning go to the Amtrak with plenty of time. Could even stay across the street from the Amtrak if you wanted. Everything's clean, not a lot of people, not crowded. The Amtrak station had only a handful of people in it until right before the train showed up.

      Don't have any pictures of the Bakersfield airport cuz I got in there like 1:00 a.m., here's a picture of the Amtrak showing how uncrowded it was
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      The post was edited 2 times, last by Muddywaters ().

    • Here's what to expect using White Plains to access NYC instead of LGA JFK EWR. And this is it like mid-day
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