Taking off Travel blog

Chicago O’Hare (ORD) Airport Photos

Chicago O’Hare (ORD) Airport is one of our most popular off airport parking locations. So popular, in fact, that we’ve just added another parking lot, Blue Sky Parking, to our more than 150 locations nationwide. We don’t often think of airports as beautiful, but these photos from ORD airport show that they can be.

First up, Caged Sky by Clearly Ambiguous – doesn’t the blue seem to reverberate when you look at it?

Next, the Web of Color by San Diego Shooter – we often pass these areas and don’t even notice. I know I did.

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I spent most of last week in Chicago attending a conference for one of my clients. That was partly the inspiration behind my post on O’Hare International. So did the airport and the trip in general live up to expectations?
Heading In

I found the airport pretty well organized and on my way in, it was easy to find my way to the luggage carousels, the exit and the airport parking lots, outside which my bus was waiting. From there it was a short ride to Hilton Indian Lakes in Bloomingdale. While not as fancy as the Cancun Hilton, this hotel was more than adequate, with good food, a nice pool and a great jacuzzi. The conference wasn’t half bad either.

At the end of it, I had one more day before it was time to fly home, so I headed downtown. Driven by a cabbie who, in his own words ‘used to have a problem with road rage’, we sat on the highway for more than two hours to make what should have been a half hour drive. Memorial Day weekend is a bad time to travel and although we thought we’d left early enough – we hadn’t. Read more »

Chicago O’ Hare Airport is one of the busiest in the US, with more than 70 million people a year passing through its terminal doors. If you’re going to fly through there, then it pays to know what’s on offer when it comes to flights, amenities and parking.

Terminals And Airlines

O’Hare Airport uses four terminals, each with restaurants, shops, ATMs and business services. Most of the international carriers use Terminal 5, while other flights are routed through Terminals 1, 2 or 3. You can find the airport layout here (PDF).

Most domestic carriers and a wide range of international ones fly though O’Hare Airport. In general, the airline you travel with will determine your gate, though there are occasional exceptions. The normal boarding gates for airlines flying out of O’Hare are listed in this O’Hare airport guide.

Amenities

As well as the services listed above, O’Hare Airport has other useful amenities including:

• facilities in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, including a visual paging system and accessible transport between terminals.
• Taxi service
• Wi-fi internet and several power workstations where passengers can recharge electronic devices free of charge.
• Touchscreen virtual concierges

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