O'hare voted as best airport in North America by Global Traveler (Chicago: car rental, rental)

[mayhem_223]

You can read more about it on the airport's page.

According to the article, it was voted by business travelers. What sorts of amenities Ohare has that it deserves so high ranking? Their domestic terminals are very decent. You can have a great steak with eggs in Goose Island bar in Terminal 3. But there are few things missing there other airports have. For example, notice International Terminal 5 does have very poor choice of restaurants and when you pass the security line there is almost nothing there. When I visited SFO, I was nicely impressed by its modern design and large number of charge stations with tables where you could sit down and eat. Midway Airport has past the security line central food court. Also at SFO, you can get more healthy stuff than at ORD.

There are few things I haven't taken into account. For example free wi-fi is not important to me. After spending $300+ for a ticket, $5 is nothing. "free" is usually offered only im smaller airports. However those perks like on-site car rental easily accessibly either by walking distance or airport train count. Ohare has an attached Hilton hotel which is a big plus.

[soulful]

I simply adore O'Hare.

[mayhem_223]

I like United's terminal with neon lights.

[ChiNaan]

O'Hare isn't even the best airport in Chicago.

[ERS-One]

The international terminal is getting a huge redesign. The renders look nice.

[Chicagoist123]

O'Hare is great if you have to kill time for a flight and is very convenient. I have never gotten bored there as it offers enough for you to do.

However, if there is ont thing that I hate about O'Hare is that it can be stressful. O'Hare is so huge, so crowded, so busy that it can be extremely stressful. Midway is such an easy place to fly out of, but then at the same time too small, so i fyou get delayed for eight hours on a plane you might want to shoot yourself being stuck at Midway.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Chicagoist123

O'Hare is great if you have to kill time for a flight

...which is likely, since it is ranked #1 for highest percentage of delayed flights.

Personally, I like an airport I can get to easily, park at easily, get through easily, and get out of on time. I don't much care how good their eggs are.

[jonnynonos]

I was never impressed, or thought much about, airports in America until I experienced the airport in Rome. It was chaos incarnate... it looked like an evacuation. No one had any idea what was going on. The length of the lines was utterly unbelievable. We came 3, 4 hours early and barely made our flight. We had to switch lines 3 times and were finally told to stand in a line--I am serious--that was marked for Tel Aviv even though we were flying to Chicago.

May be a stereotype but my best airport experience by far was in Germany. Especially coming out of Rome. It was strikingly clean, efficient, orderly, modern and went off like clockwork.

O'Hare's not bad, though.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Chicagoist123

However, if there is ont thing that I hate about O'Hare is that it can be stressful. O'Hare is so huge, so crowded, so busy that it can be extremely stressful. Midway is such an easy place to fly out of, but then at the same time too small, so i fyou get delayed for eight hours on a plane you might want to shoot yourself being stuck at Midway.

What I hate about O'Hare is that you cannot get to your car with your bags in under an hour. At Midway, I am generally to my car in 30-35 minutes. And General Mitchell can be even quicker.

[ToriaT]

I have always liked O Hare and I was a business traveler going all over the country. I felt it had the best facilities, the best shops and restaurants and the best bathrooms. True that it is huge and maybe confusing to many. You only get to appreciate Ohare if you have been to other airports and seen how they compare. True there are many small airports that might be easier to get in and out of than O Hare but if you compare it to the larger airports it is one of the best. Not saying the flights are on time though.