US Immigration at ORD?

[LondonPax]

I will be travelling to Chicago shortly and wondered what the immigration queue situation is like at O'Hare? I know it depends on time of day etc but my long experience of JFK is that it is never better than terrible (which is why I now take the LCY flight via Shannon when I can).

Flying from LHR, is it worth going Aer Lingus via Dublin to clear immigration there?

THanks in advance for any thoughts/advice.

[intortola]

My last few arrivals at JFK i have had no problem, in fact last week arrived JFK from CDG and the immigration hall was empty, i was back in the Admirals Club about 30 minutes after arriving at gate having cleared security again. Also very suprised to arrive LHR week before Xmas and find no queues at all at immigration at T3, never seen the immigration hall empty like that before. I think i have been very lucky with timings of my recent flights!

[jackieofalltrades]

When I've been through ORD the immigration queue has always been long, but usually moved quickly.
Of all the US airports I've flown into, none come anywhere near as bad as JFK for immigration. That airport is beyond a joke when it comes to clearing immigration and customs.

[Old Photo.Fanatic]

I few into O'Hare last July from Heathrow.
Arrrived early pm, took about 90 mins to get through to baggage claim.

As an aside, the designated carousel for baggage was by then in use for a later arrival.
Remaining bags from my flight had been off loaded into a corner of the baggage hall, one of mine missing!!!!. With me three days later.

[LondonPax]

Thanks for the replies. Seems like ORD can be bad though maybe not as bad as JFK. The real variable is what's arrived just before you.

[Jarvy]

JFK can be so variable, so 90mins plane to cab one day or as happened last time 20 mins plane to cab. I know this is about Chicago but I use this to show all airports have big variables.

[YorkshireTyke]

.........all airports have big variables.

All airports can be irritating on a scale of Nil to Impossible at any time, unannounced, and it's not use planning to arrive at so called 'quiet' times 'cos then they have less staff on duty !

Arrived at one US airport going through re-building,to find Immigration was housed in a sort of big plastic bubble ( might have been LAX, can't remember ) held up by low pressure air pumps. Our passengers were clearly at the end of a very,very, long queue that I learned later took 2 hours to traverse.

Passing carefully past the line-up to the Crew Channel - which was empty ! - one of our passengers berated us for bringing them to this Hell. Us ? he chose to fly at that time, why was it my fault that we were the last of about 10 747's to have recently arrived ?

It's called Life. As dictated by Murphy. Get used to it.

[radeng]

Anything up to 90 minutes at ORD. Unlike the French at Nice, the concept of putting extra staff on hasn't occurred to them......Not mind you, any different to LHR or FRA.

PHX is probably the fastest that I've found in the US. But, basically, they don't want foreigners, even those who are there to spend money.

[Hotel Tango]

I've had some surprising fast experiences in recent years. The fastest of all was in Newark (25 mins from gate to driving off in a hire car). I have only had one slow one in the past 8 years which was 75 mins just to get through immigration at IAD. Much depends on what has arrived before you and if you can beat the crowd from your own aircraft. The fitter you are the better your chances :)

[LondonPax]

Even if you can beat the crowd from your own flight (which I always try to do, and usually manage) you are at the mercy of what's come in ahead of you. If BA at Terminal 7 at JFK, maybe an Iberia flight from Madrid. (It is so nice to come via SNN and arrive as domestic.) If you're unlucky on VS, JFK terminal 4 a whole queue of folks each of whom has a file of documents evidencing his right to enter the US, 50% of whom get taken to a side room for further grilling.

I decided to go via Dublin. A couple of hours to kill drinking Guinness. Could be worse.