Question for anyone familiar with ORD...

I'm looking to book a flight to Vegas for this fall that will give me a connection in Chicago (O'Hare). I'll be flying in on a small plane (United Express) and then transferring to a larger one to fly to LAS. My question is for anyone familiar with O'Hare airport. My connection(layover) time in Chicago is only 1 hour. Will I have enough time to get from my arrival gate to my departure gate? I realize that I don't know what gate numbers I'll have, but I suspect that all the little planes arrive in a different section than where all the larger planes depart from. I don't want to book my ticket if there will be a problem, but of course I'd rather arrive in Vegas earlier and not have a 3+ hour layover in Chicago. Also my flight in/out of Chicago is a morning flight (arriving at 9 a.m. and leaving at 10 a.m.) and from what I've read, that's a good thing since most delays happen later in the day.

Thanks in advance; Any info I get will be appreciated

Sprat8,

I fly through ORD quite a bit. A couple of additional details would be helpful to better answer your question;

1) Is your ORD-LAS flight also on United? If not, this may require you to change terminals which could be really tight with a 60 minute layover

2) What day of the week will this be? There's a big difference between a Monday morning (very busy) and some other days.

Remember - this also is dependent on your arriving flight being on time. You may want to check the past history for that flight to see what your odds are (didn't think gambling was involved till you got to Vegas, did you?)

Jimbo

You might also check online to see what gate is typically used for your United Express flight arrival. Then look at a map of ORD to see where it is in comparison to the gate for your ORD-LAS flight. United generally flies to Vegas out of the B terminal, but it could be C.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone Jimbo: I've answered your questions above.

Sprat8,

With the additional information you've provided I'd think you are probably ok. I don't think I'd ever be comfortable with less than 60 minutes at ORD (and that number would be higher in winter with the potential for bad weather). Understand that the departure from your "baby" airport is also influenced by the folks at ORD - planes destined for there get cleared to take off based on being slotted into their arrival pattern for landing aircraft - I've had numerous occasions where we've sat on the ground headed to ORD waiting to take off but were delayed in leaving due to heavy ORD arrival traffic.

Also, as the summer months approach and planes get fuller and fuller the likelihood of just being stuck on the next flight out to Vegas diminish too. It may not be until much later in the day (or the next day) until you can finish your trip and this likelihood increases with the number of passengers that are travelling with you.

I'm not trying to dissuade you, just want you to understand what your risks are.....

Jimbo

I wouldn't let that worry you. If weather at ORD delays the plane you're arriving on, it's probably also delaying the arrival of the plane you're to depart on.