Harveyspecter

My brother is planning to come and visit us for Christmas and intends flying into Chicago O Hare on Friday December 20th. I know this is considered "Black Friday" in the UK but does it mean the airport will be crazy busy from anyone's experience?

Thanks.

Oakvillian

IMX (which in this context consists mostly of going home to the UK and subsequently to Canada from business meetings in the States) US airports aren't necessarily any busier over the Christmas period than at any other time of the year. Heathrow will be a zoo, for sure, but ORD shouldn't be significantly busier than usual. Americans will have done their "family duty" travel the previous month, over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Harveyspecter

Pretty much what I thought, thank you!

BenK91

Can't speak for O'Hare but when we flew back to the UK for Christmas the airport was busy as hell but well organized and managed impeccably.

I've flown out for business trips late on a Sunday night and waited longer than we did on December 21st!

daveincolchester

Black Friday in the States is in November.

tom169

O'Hare sucks and is normally always busy

Jerseygirl

That’s where Global Entry/NEXUS comes in very useful.

scrubbedexpat091

It wont be as busy as say the Wed before Thanksgiving, but expect it to be busy the Friday before Christmas, the Friday before Christmas is typically still an above average travel day.

But when is O'hare not busy?

Lion in Winter

O-Hare is always busy, but does not usually collapse. Also, arrivals is much easier than departures since you aren't doing security checks. The customs and immigration hall is huge. The only thing that can really cause trouble is if there is bad weather, but the extreme cold doesn't usually hit until January, and really big snows are not that common. O'Hare is fully equipped to deal with normal snow.

Hiro11

You'll be fine.

TheKingOfHearts

Immigration at O'Hare is (almost) always done through Terminal 5. (Unless pre-clearing). Whilst I have Global Entry the last few times I've used it I've had trouble and ended up using the electronic immigration terminals which function exactly the same as Global Entry.

They automate your paper landing card and issue a print out which you hand over to the immigration officer. This has taken me no more than 5 minutes the last 3 times I've done this and the general usage of the eTerminals for almost all passengers has massively sped up the whole operation. Imo, you'd need 2x A380's with almost 1,000 passengers total to land around the same time for this to be an issue (I was on a BA A380 and it was super quick, although admittedly since I travel business I was off sooner than a lot of folks).

zzrmark

I would rather poke my own eyes out than go back there again.
I had the misfortune of a connecting flight at the other end of the terminal, plenty of time but it was like doing a mile walk in a busy mall and I really, really hate malls.

scrubbedexpat091

It was the worst airport I ever worked at. The employee lot for the airline I worked for at the time was airside and had to park, then wait for a shuttle that ran every 20-30 minutes, then it dropped us off at the gate we used, only down side is the clock it was at the ticket counter, so walk all the way through the terminal, clock in, get the stuff we needed for the day, then go through security, then all the way back to the gate, for my 6am shift, I had to be at the employee lot by 4:50 to catch the 5am shuttle just so I would be at the gate for 6am. Then at end of the day back to the ticket counter, close out, back through security, all the way back to the gate.

I try to avoid connecting at O'Hare and Atlanta, majority of my flights are up and down the west coast so I usually connect in Seattle or Phoenix, I try to avoid connecting in LA.

If going east, I try to connect in Minneapolis, Salt Lake City or DFW

carcajou

Black Friday in the US has a different meaning and refers to the day after Thanksgiving.

Sure it will be very busy, but O'Hare is one of the busiest airports in the world. Remember it is a hub for both American and United.

A lot will depend on weather. I have been stranded at O'Hare multiple times the past 15 years due to blizzards. Though the airlines have gotten better at managing that.