POE O'Hare

[rongnjohn 1]

Hello Everyone who has had POE at O'Hare,

My Fiancee's POE will be Chicago O'Hare. Does anyone have any suggestions for an easy meeting point after she moves through the immigration process and reclaims her luggage? I am not too familiar with the International terminal there. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, along with specifics as we are not familiar with the airport.

I am assuming there is a lobby outside of the customs declaration area, if so, is it terminal 5? If not, what do I look for? Suggestions for parking?

Finally, how long does the POE paperwork take?

Thank you,

John

[En&Em 1]

Yes. There is a place in Terminal 5 for people to wait for travelers arriving and going through customs.

Also, there is separate short-term parking at Terminal 5, if you are driving there.

I don't know how long it will take to get through, but CONGRATULATIONS!

[En&Em 1]

Also, although I am not far enough in the process to discuss POE issues (I wish I were!), there are reviews of Chicago as POE here:

Chicago POE Reviews

[TracyTN 237]

Hubby used O'hare as his POE and raved about it. Though he had a connecting flight to catch so I can't help much w/ pick up points. I do know when you walk out of the immigration/customs hall, there are always relatives waiting there. I assume that's what the previous poster was alluding to.

[rongnjohn 1]

Thanks! I will check it out.

John

[Utah_Bound 0]

Terminal 5 is the place to meet, however on my experience from landing, going through immigration and then customs (we had a connecting flight to Salt Lake City and my wife had already gone through customs with our luggage so I didnt have to wait by the luggage pick ups), allow about 2 hours. I went through the US Citizen / resident line and was escorted to an office where I then proceeded to sit for over an hour and a half. Luckily they had a TV in there so that passed away some of the time. Finally they called me upto the desk where I followed somebody to a back room where I was fingerprinted and photographed. Then and only then was I actually treated like a legal immigrant and actually saw an immigration officer smile. One thing I also noticed was I was told back in the UK they would ask for my X-Rays from the medical and so keep them out with my paperwork. When I tried to pass them to the immigtaion official, he just looked at me and said they didnt need them.

Good luck and congratulations by the way.

PS. Just looking at the reviews on Chicago, seems a whole lot has changed in the 5 years since I came through, a lot of people rate it as one of the better places. For me 5 years ago it was a nightmare.Thankfully Delta held back my connecting flight and I was only 10 minutes late making it to the plane. Good job my wife was with me and she had already cleared all the luggage through customs.

Edited November 11, 2010 by Utah_Bound

[jkelly07 120]

hi you can have her call you when she is ready to exit the plain, thay don't allow cell phones or photos in the immigratiom area,how long it all depands how many international flights come in togather then there will be a line once the officer checks all her papers he will clear her, if not she goes to the office and hope not many people there, any whay then she goe's to collect her luggage then goe's to customs, then exit to wating arms. good luck.

[Leenie 15]

There is short term parking outside of international terminal 5. I have hardly ever seen it full! I think it is about $3 an hour.

The arrivals waiting area has two doors (called A and B), from either of which anyone can come out of. So, even if you check your SO's arrival on the computer screen and it says they will be coming out of A, it doesn't necessarily mean they will come out of A. There can be a lot of confusion there.

If you need a specific landmark to meet at, there is one McDonald's in the arrivals waiting area. You could always pick that. It's easy to recognize. Good luck!

[rongnjohn 1]

Thank You Leenie, McDonald's it is! Easily Recognizable.

Welcome to America, land of the Fast Food! hehe

John

[Used to be broken 143]

Thank You Leenie, McDonald's it is! Easily Recognizable.

Welcome to America, land of the Fast Food! hehe

John

If your SO has a cell phone, figure 1.5 hours from actual arrival and he/she can call you when the plane lands .. then you head out to Ohare and wait at the cell lot (free waiting parking lot) when done with processing he/she can call again and head to luggage area, then meet you on the curb outside of international arrivals.. by the big flag display. You never have to park, don't have to go inside nobody gets lost and you don't have to pay parking. You swing by, pick up SO with the luggage and head for honeymoon.

[Rictodd 0]

Congradulations!!!

Hope everything goes smoothly.

My finace's POE will probably also be Chicago O'Hare, so this is good information from our other members. I can only say on my return trips from China the speed going through the process of re-entry was compounded by the number of Flights arriving at the same time. I would assume the same would apply to new entries.

McDonald's sounds like a good meeting point. I always traveled to the domestic terminals from 5 so I can't help you there. I do know there was an enterance right outside thye arival area.

Good Luck!

[garfield529 47]

hi you can have her call you when she is ready to exit the plain, thay don't allow cell phones or photos in the immigratiom area,how long it all depands how many international flights come in togather then there will be a line once the officer checks all her papers he will clear her, if not she goes to the office and hope not many people there, any whay then she goe's to collect her luggage then goe's to customs, then exit to wating arms. good luck.

His fiancee is coming from China, so unless he gave her a US based phone to carry on the flight she won't be able to make a call when she lands. It is a good idea. I had considered a pay-as-you-go phone to mail over for this reason, but we then decided that she WILL only come through one door, so there was no chance of missing her or her getting lost.

[Amy and Michael 21]

There is short term parking outside of international terminal 5. I have hardly ever seen it full! I think it is about $3 an hour.

The arrivals waiting area has two doors (called A and B), from either of which anyone can come out of. So, even if you check your SO's arrival on the computer screen and it says they will be coming out of A, it doesn't necessarily mean they will come out of A. There can be a lot of confusion there.

If you need a specific landmark to meet at, there is one McDonald's in the arrivals waiting area. You could always pick that. It's easy to recognize. Good luck!

This is very good advice. I have picked up my husband @ O'Hare 4 different times. Even when you look at the screen (the arrival screens indicate when the flights arrived as well as what door - A or B - they should exit from) that doesn't mean they will definitely come out of the door indicated. It also can be extremely busy - as in 5+ rows of people lined up, watching for loved ones to come through the doors. It can also be very quiet & tame.

I budgeted a good 2 hours for him to come out of Immigration the day of his POE, but I still arrived shortly after the plane landed. I had a huge bouquet of helium balloons - which a few others had, but in the sea of people I thought I was easy to find. Michael did not see me, I did not see him, and he went in and out twice before we found each other. He lugged his suitcases with him back and forth. I knew this was a possibility since he was a smoker and would want to go out for a smoke. He knew I was there - because he could see my car parked (got a good spot!) in the parking lot. It was pretty humorous when we found each other, about 1.5 hours after he landed (and he says 40 minutes after he started looking for me). I was actually headed out towards parking lot D (short term international parking) to see if he went out there, knowing that he probably would see our car. But, I didn't want to miss him, so as my friend and I headed towards the parking lot, I kept looking back at doors A & B to see if he was coming out...and I heard his voice saying something like "Amy ... where you been?" It was amazing, though, and we are approaching 6 months together!

[sorchaine 10]

When my husband arrived through Chicago it was very easy for us to find each other. I was there about 1 hour before his plane landed. There was very few people there as it was early in the morning and no other planes were landing at the same time. I just waited in the seats getting a spot partly between both doors thinking people would come out of both. The plane that landed about 40 minutes before my husbands came out of one door and then my husband's plane they came out of the other. It was pretty easy to figure out which door they were coming out of cause it was the only one with people exiting. While he was one of the first ones off the plane and to the customs area, he was the last one to come through since his POE was horrible and they tried to find any way they could to deny him and send him back.