Why a 10 hour layover at Chicago’s O’hare airport is definitely not something you want to experience

moodledidoodledi (52)in #traveling • 8 years ago (edited)

I just came home from a 2 month vacation in the US. Everything was great, except one thing: The flight back home. Now in general I really enjoy flying (even for more than 9 hours) and especially like to spend time at the airport. But this time, everything was different.

The flight plan home:

With the car from Bloomington to the airport in Indianapolis, then Indianapolis -> Detroit, Detroit -> Chicago O’hare (both flights operated by Delta airlines), followed by Chicago -> Copenhagen after a 10h layover, Copenhagen -> Frankfurt (both operated by SAS) and finally Frankfurt -> Mainz with the car. Total travel time from door to door: ~29 hours. Why would anyone do this? Well, it was the cheapest option.

A flying enthusiast like me might think: Great, 10 hours at O’hare in Chicago, one of the biggest airports in the US, this is going to be amazing! And why shouldn’t you expect that? In most recent times airports got more and more packed with attractions: Art exhibitions, climbing parks, plane exhibitions, pools and restaurants make you think you stay in a big hotel resort instead of an airport. Here is a rundown on what I experienced at O’hares international terminal (Terminal 5):

Wifi:

The US is praised as a country where a free wifi hotspot is waiting around every corner, especially at the airports. This was true for every of my O’hare visits until this one: Someone apparently had the glorious idea to exchange the all-free-wifi for Boingo, which is a wifi service that advertises with a download speed of 20Mb/s but is only free for 30 minutes on each device. After the free 30 minute period you have to pay 4,95$/h. There is the option to take part in a survey from the TSA to receive Wifi, but you have to be lucky enough to find the person who issues the question paper (and they would only issue them ahead of the security check!).

Check-In:

This is something I actually expected: I arrived in Chicago at 1 pm, but as international flights leave in the evening, the check-in desks from SAS open at 16:45 pm. This means I had to spend 3:45h in the check in area, with 1hour of wifi, way too few seats for all waiting passengers and a cafe (where I found a seat) that only accepts cash (#logics: why would you have foreign cash left when you are about to go on an international flight). 

Check-in area

Activities:

In contrast to most airports I visited, O’hare only has very few options when it comes to activities. You can decide on either some shopping/eating or looking at three very weird art-sculptures. Terminal 5 has the following shop- and food options:

-approx. 3 medium sized duty free shops

-1 Bar

-2 luxury watch stores along with Emporio Amani and Michael Kors

-A burger-, taco- and sandwich to-go-restaurant

-approx. 2 small shops with magazines and snacks

Conclusion:

Try not to spend your time at O'hare. Better stay at airports that offer fun & activities.