I understand Seattle-Tacoma has a rule that vendors in the airport cannot charge any more than what they charge at stores outside the airport. I have no idea if any other airports have followed suit and implemented similar rules.
When I was in Germany ~ 10 years ago. They had the same rules for the mini-fridge in your hotel room. At one hotel they just showed me where the main bar fridge was and just said “write down what you took and the room number, and we will settle it up.”
This is more common than it used to be. But is not always the panacea it appears to be.
Many of the storefront brands in airports are run by outfits like: HMSHost - Feeling Good on the Move® who have no presence outside of airports, stadiums, etc. Or at least not using those same brands. Obviously this caveat doesn’t apply to outlets like McDonalds, TGI Friday’s or Brooks Brothers who are also commonly found in big airports.
Kinda like matrass stores who will match competitor’s prices on mattresses. But at Honest Bob’s Mattresses, the midrange Sealy product is a 12345-HBM while across town at Sally’s Bedding Barn they sell the Sealy 12345-SBB. Totally different part numbers so totally different mattresses, don’t you see? Yeah, right.
It get a lot of bad reviews for service online, but I’ve found Gold Coast Dogs in the airport (well, I’ve been to the one in Midway), to a solid rendition of a Chicago-style dog, if that’s what you’re going for. No idea if their Italian beef is any good. From the pictures I see, it seems to be cut not quite as thinly as I would like (the reviewer liked it, though.) I’d still recommend Tortas Frontera, but if you’ve got a hot dog jones, you can do worse.
The Addison Blue Line station is not close to Wrigley Field, so you’d also need to add in a lot of walking.
There’s a nice replica (but smaller) version of the statue of Lincoln from the Lincoln Memorial that’s worth a few minutes of your time. Other than that, have a nice leisurely meal somewhere in the airport. I agree that under no condition should you consider leaving the airport.
Three hours? I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do in Chicago. O’Hare is 18 miles from downtown Chicago, and we are talking heavy traffic miles. Even if you could instantaneously rent a car and head out, by the time you got there, you’d have turn around and start back.
You could wander the terminals at the airport looking at art installations.
https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/ServicesAmenities/amenities/Pages/art.aspx
Do they still have the underground travellator with the neon lights overhead? I’ve killed about 10 minutes going back and forth on that. It’s brief, but it’s relaxing.
It’s still there.
Agree Tortas Frontera is a hidden gem.
Another ORD food option is J.B.'s Italian deli. Their Italian beef sandwich is quite good & large.
Indeed it is. For the OP, in case they want to kill some time by looking at the cool lights and listening to the 1980s space-style atmospheric music: it’s in Terminal 1 (the United terminal), and connects Concourse B and Concourse C.
I guess it depends on the day and the time. Daughter and SIL came in from Dominican Republic on a Sunday recently at 5:50pm. They were through customs within 5 minutes, picked up their luggage quickly and were out to the car very shortly after that. Luckily the SIL got in to drive as Chicago traffic at that time and from that terminal was hairy.
Ok, I was mainly thinking of connecting onward to a domestic flight, though. Since Terminal 5 is the only one with immigration and customs, for your connecting flight you have to make your way to one of the other terminals, and go back through security. When I had to do it a few years ago the people mover was down for maintenance, so I had to take a bus that stopped at terminal 1 and terminal 2 before finally dropping me off at terminal 3. Even with more than 2 hours between flights I just barely made my connection.
Wow. It’s been a few years since I arrived in the international terminal, but back in the day when I was going in and out of it at least once a year, it felt like an endless walk from the gate to immigration/customs. I flew out once since the revamp, but I don’t remember it being much different on the return. The amenities in the terminal itself when flying out, though, have vastly improved.
Last year we returned from the Caribbean with a puppy. There are no direct flights to Pittsburgh, so we had to do immigration/customs in Miami.
After doing all the usual stuff, we had to go to the Department of Agriculture’s headquarters to get approval on the pup’s paperwork. The guy who directed us pointed down a hallway that seemed to go forever. He said we had to go “to the end”.
Once we got there there was a woman sitting, reading a paperback. Our rabies certificate and veterinary exam documents were all in French. She said she didn’t know any French. I told her what it said and that was good enough for her. Then we had to run to recheck bags and barely make our flight.
A good point. Many airports have themes, displays, or museums. 3 hours in O’Hare can be spent that way.
I once had a 2-hour layover in Milwaukee and its Billy Mitchell Gallery of Flight was very interesting.
I had a BOGO coupon so my date got the other Mahi, tar and cous.
There’s a replica mount of a Brachiosaurus from the Field Museum in the airport too!
This writers 12 hour overnight adventure wandering around at ORD went viral on twitter.
Man, this thread sure makes me miss the days when I had a lot of work travel. Strangely enough, I love long layovers where I get to wander different airports and check out their attempts to bring local flavor to the terminal.
Anyway, it’s been well said here that three hours isn’t enough to go anywhere, but depending on how you define it, three hours isn’t even three hours. If you roll up to the gate at 2pm, could be 10-15 minutes, maybe more, before you’re off the plane and free. And a 5pm flight surely means boarding at 4:00 or 4:15 so now your three hours is more like an hour and a half on the short end.
The thought of leaving an airport to sightsee for three hours and hoping to get back makes my teeth itch. I get there hours early and don’t mind waiting around to ensure I’m not late.