O’Hare Terminal 5: A Central Illinois Traveler’s Guide

O’Hare Terminal 5 sits apart from the rest of the airport, and that one fact shapes every international trip out of Central Illinois. It is the building where arriving international passengers are processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It is also the only terminal you cannot reach from the others on foot.

Everything below about the building comes from the Chicago Department of Aviation’s own pages at flychicago.com, checked on September 15, 2026. Terminal assignments and shuttle schedules change, so confirm yours the week you fly. Mileage and drive times come from the routing data behind our route pages.

What O’Hare Terminal 5 is, and why the numbering skips four

Terminal 5 is a separate building set away from the three core terminals that share the main garage. It has its own roadway, its own check-in hall, its own checkpoint, and the Customs and Border Protection hall that arriving international passengers walk through.

The numbering surprises people too. The airport’s own terminal and transit pages list Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5. There is no Terminal 4, so nothing has gone wrong if you cannot find one. For everything we do on the ground there, see our O’Hare car service page.

O’Hare Terminal 5 airlines, and why to check yours twice

Which carriers use Terminal 5 changes, and one airline can depart from a different terminal than it arrives in. The airport keeps the current directory, and your boarding pass carries the answer for your date.

The phrase “O’Hare international terminal” is not a perfect synonym for Terminal 5 either. Passengers from preclearance cities, including several in Canada and Ireland, clear U.S. customs before boarding and walk straight into domestic baggage claim. Some of those flights land at Terminal 5, others at Terminals 1, 2 or 3. Whoever drives you needs the terminal, not just the airline.

How the O’Hare Airport Transit System connects Terminal 5

The O’Hare Airport Transit System is the free automated train linking the terminals, the rental car center and the remote parking. It is how most people reach Terminal 5, and the airport is specific about when each option runs.

Two details matter more than the timetable. Connecting between 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 a.m. means leaving the secure side, which puts a fresh TSA screening between you and your next gate. And the ride itself is the short part. The walks at both ends, the elevators, and the security line are what consume a layover.

Where a car drops you off and where it picks you up

Departures and arrivals are stacked, as at the other terminals. Follow the Departures signs to the upper level roadway when you fly out. Arriving passengers walk out on the lower level, and your chauffeur meets you inside at baggage claim first.

Chauffeured vehicles work under a tighter rule. The airport allows liveries to meet passengers only in designated areas in the lower level center lane. Vehicles cannot wait unattended anywhere at O’Hare, which is why your chauffeur is inside with you rather than parked at the door. A free cell phone lot at 560 North Bessie Coleman Drive holds vehicles standing by.

So your chauffeur is not parked at the door when you walk out. The vehicle stages nearby and comes to the lower level once you say you are out. Every airport transportation pickup we run at O’Hare works this way.

What walking out of an international arrival actually looks like

On arrival you leave the aircraft and follow sterile corridors to the Customs and Border Protection processing area. After primary inspection, every passenger claims all checked baggage and passes through agriculture screening, no matter where the trip ends. Only then do you walk out to the door or recheck the bags for a connecting terminal.

Nobody can tell you in advance how long that takes. It depends on how many widebody aircraft landed in the same half hour and whether your document check is routine. Passengers off one aircraft can reach the door well apart, which is why a Terminal 5 pickup is planned as a window rather than a clock time.

An international arrival is not finished when the wheels touch down. It is finished when you are out the door with your bags.

When the domestic flight and the international flight use different terminals

This is the connection that catches Central Illinois travelers. A regional flight from Springfield, Peoria or Bloomington lands at a core terminal while the long-haul departure sits at Terminal 5. The two are a train ride and a second screening apart, and the schedule you booked may not have allowed for either.

Those figures assume clear roads. The Chicago approach runs longer in the weekday peaks, so a departure time is built backward from the flight, not from the mileage. Driving yourself and leaving the car is the other option, and we put the airport’s posted lot rates next to a chauffeured trip in our guide to O’Hare parking against a car service. For the Springfield run, see the Springfield to O’Hare route, or ask about an airport to airport transfer.

How a Terminal 5 pickup is planned

Here is how a chauffeured pickup works around an international arrival, and what your part of it is.

1. Book with the details. Call (217) 523-5466 or request a ride online with the flight number, the scheduled arrival, the terminal, and your passenger and bag count. We prefer 72 hours’ notice and about a week for larger groups.
2. Agree on a window. Your reservation coordinator sets a realistic pickup window rather than the landing time, because customs, baggage and agriculture screening all sit between the gate and the door.
3. Call when you are out. Once you are through customs with your bags in hand, call or text your chauffeur. Nobody at Executive Transportation is watching the arrivals board for you, so that call starts the vehicle moving.
4. Meet on the lower level. The chauffeur comes from the staging area to the designated livery area in the center lane and loads your luggage there.
5. Ride home. An executive sedan seats two to three, a luxury SUV five to six, and a Sprinter Van up to 14, with room for the luggage.

The same sequence runs in reverse on the way out, minus the uncertainty. You give us the flight, and the chauffeur puts you at the Terminal 5 departures level early.