But we had to switch planes from United to Alaska Airlines, which means walking from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3, which must be in a different suburb
Not quite -- but it can feel like it. Technically, none of O'Hare is in any suburb. Daley The First managed to almost secretly annex the site of orchard field, and a very thin connection to the rest of the city, before any of the fledgling suburbs could do it, which has made the political debates about expansion much more fun.
If you are willing to trust it -- and I have even though I've got a friend who spent an intern summer retesting parts of it -- there is the automated railway that connects the terminals, which would save some of the walking between Terminal 1 and 3, and is basically required to get to or from Terminal 5 (international, for definitions of international that do not include places like Toronto where US Customs sits in a foreign airport, and for departures on carriers with terminals or partner terminals elsewhere in O'Hare). It is outside of the security zone, so you would need to pass back through security to make use of it -- but I'm never sure how far you can go at O'Hare on the domestic side without leaving security -- having not had to change planes at O'Hare in over 30 years.
But, no I would not relish the thought of trying to make any connection between United and Alaska at O'Hare. Even United to USAirways (terminal 2) could be tricky if the inside
I was afraid that we wouldn't have time to find/wait for the shuttle, go through security, and get to the gate. O'Hare really needs some kind of shuttle system inside security. Or possibly signage that doesn't send you *the wrong way*; I would've settled for that. *grumbles*
Better signage and intra-terminal transport would help O'Hare greatly. Of course I don't think anyone involved with running O'Hare believes that anyone would change planes there except between two United (or partner) flights, or between two American (or partner) flights, so they don't even think about the distance between Terminal 1 and the far concourse of Terminal 3.
Of course nothing O'Hare could do would be as bad as trying to change between a domestic flight and an international flight at the Delhi airport. The only thing that the the domestic and international sides of the airport share is the runway. You have to take a bus or taxi between, and then they won't let you into the international side unless you can prove you have a ticket.
Not quite -- but it can feel like it. Technically, none of O'Hare is in any suburb. Daley The First managed to almost secretly annex the site of orchard field, and a very thin connection to the rest of the city, before any of the fledgling suburbs could do it, which has made the political debates about expansion much more fun.
If you are willing to trust it -- and I have even though I've got a friend who spent an intern summer retesting parts of it -- there is the automated railway that connects the terminals, which would save some of the walking between Terminal 1 and 3, and is basically required to get to or from Terminal 5 (international, for definitions of international that do not include places like Toronto where US Customs sits in a foreign airport, and for departures on carriers with terminals or partner terminals elsewhere in O'Hare). It is outside of the security zone, so you would need to pass back through security to make use of it -- but I'm never sure how far you can go at O'Hare on the domestic side without leaving security -- having not had to change planes at O'Hare in over 30 years.
But, no I would not relish the thought of trying to make any connection between United and Alaska at O'Hare. Even United to USAirways (terminal 2) could be tricky if the inside
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Of course nothing O'Hare could do would be as bad as trying to change between a domestic flight and an international flight at the Delhi airport. The only thing that the the domestic and international sides of the airport share is the runway. You have to take a bus or taxi between, and then they won't let you into the international side unless you can prove you have a ticket.
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