Chicago O'Hare: Arrivals and Getting into the City
- Chicago O'Hare Airport
- ORD
- Chicago arrivals
- CTA Blue Line
- airport transfers
Welcome to Chicago. After a long flight, here is how to get from O'Hare to where you are staying.
How O'Hare's terminals fit together
The fourth-busiest airport hub in the United States, Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) has four terminals: 1, 2, 3 and 5 (T1, T2, T3, T5).
- T1, T2 and T3 are connected, so you can walk between them.
- T5 handles international flights — including most flights to and from China — and is joined to the others by the Airport Transit System (ATS).
The ATS is free between terminals.
Arriving in Chicago
Fill in the customs declaration form on the plane
During the flight the crew hand out the customs declaration form (a Chinese version is available). Filling it in before you land makes arrival much smoother.
A few things to watch when you fill it in, or you may be sent for extra questioning:
- If you are travelling with family and staying at the same address, you can share one form.
- State your purpose of entry truthfully — tourism, business, study or anything else.
- Do not bring in:
- fruit, vegetables, plants, seeds, food or insects;
- meat, animals, or animal and wildlife products;
- disease cultures, cell cultures or snails;
- soil, or anything that has been on a farm, ranch or feedlot.
- Do not carry more than US$10,000 in cash.
Going through to immigration
Once the plane is at O'Hare and the crew announce you can get off, stretch your legs, check you have left nothing in the cabin — and follow the crowd to the immigration area. If you miss the group because you stopped at the restroom, don't worry: just follow the "Immigration" signs.
At immigration, join the "Visa" line (not the "US Citizen" line) and wait your turn. Keep your voice down, and do not use your phone to film the officers.
Have ready your passport, Form I-20, your international travel health certificate (the "little red book"), your international certificate of vaccination (the "little yellow book"), and your admission letter or study plan if you have one.
When the officer asks why you are visiting, answer truthfully about your school and programme. They will then photograph you and take your fingerprints, which completes the entry process.
Baggage and customs
Follow the baggage tag information to the right carousel and wait for your bags, checking them against the screens — the airport screens are authoritative.
If you have nothing to declare you can usually walk straight out. If you are pulled aside for inspection, stay calm, cooperate with the officers and do not withhold anything.
T5's arrivals hall has restaurants of every size, so once you are through you can relax, buy a drink or a snack, and connect to the airport's free Wi-Fi to let your family know you have landed.
Leaving the airport
If you have arranged a pick-up with your school or another organisation, follow the airport signs to the agreed gate.
Travellers heading to different areas can also follow the signs for each transport option: those going to Champaign, Purdue or other places in the region usually take a charter bus, while those heading into Chicago itself generally take ride-hailing or the CTA.
Getting into the city
Option 1: the CTA Blue Line
Getting to and from O'Hare on the CTA means taking the Blue Line. You first take the ATS shuttle to Terminal 2 and change there — the ATS is free between terminals.
The Blue Line runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Every train from the O'Hare station passes through downtown on its way to Forest Park, and the trip downtown usually takes 40–45 minutes.
Once you are at T2, follow the blue metro icon to reach the Blue Line platform. You need to buy a ticket from the machine before entering: the fare between O'Hare and downtown is $5 (the regular fare is $2.50). Some machines do not give change, so have coins ready, or pay with a Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card.
You do not need to tap out on the way out, but one ticket gives you up to two free transfers to another CTA train or bus within two hours, so keep hold of it.
If you are heading to SAIC, DePaul (Loop), Columbia College Chicago or UIC, you do not need to change trains — get off at Monroe, Jackson, LaSalle or UIC-Halsted as appropriate.
For DePaul (Lincoln Park), Northwestern (Kellogg), the University of Chicago or IIT, you will need to transfer to a different metro or bus route.
Option 2: ride-hailing
If you want the easiest, quickest and most comfortable option, take a car and skip dragging your luggage around. The only downsides are that it is expensive and can get stuck in traffic at busy times.
Uber and Lyft are the two apps everyone uses in the United States. Download the international version before you fly and link a dual-currency credit card in advance. Once you land and have a connection (the airport Wi-Fi will do), you can call a car.
If you land at T5, first take the ATS to Terminal 2, then follow the Rideshare / Ride App signs to the pick-up point on the departures level.
Both Uber and Lyft pick up only here. The meter starts when your driver reaches the pick-up point, and after a short grace period (about five minutes) you are charged extra — so it is best to order the car once you are at the T2 pick-up point.
After you register and add a payment method, enter your start point and destination in the app and choose the vehicle type. Once it matches you with the nearest driver it shows their details and rating — if the rating is low, request a different driver to be safe.
The same trip is priced slightly differently between the two apps, but the service is essentially the same (most drivers work for both), so it is worth comparing before you confirm.
Before getting in, check the driver and vehicle details — name, model and plate number. Stay alert during the ride and check in the app that the route is correct.
Option 3: the Pace bus
(For Northwestern students in particular)
Pace runs the buses in Chicago's suburbs, and its Pulse Dempster line runs from O'Hare to Evanston, where Northwestern University is, in about 50 minutes, every 15–20 minutes (every 20–30 minutes on weekends and outside peak hours).
To get from O'Hare to Evanston, take the ATS to the MMF (Multi-Modal Facility) and find Bay 9 for the Pulse bus. You can tap a Ventra card on board or pay cash: the fare is $2 ($2.25 in cash).
One last tip
Whichever way you travel, stay aware of your surroundings, and check that you have not left any luggage behind before you get on or off.
Related links
- On this site: Chicago O'Hare ORD, United States (US)
- Wikipedia: Chicago O'Hare ORD
- Baidu Baike: Chicago O'Hare ORD
Related links
- On this site: Chicago O'Hare ORD, United States (US)
- Wikipedia: Chicago O'Hare ORD
- Baidu Baike: Chicago O'Hare ORD
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