Suitcases in Chicago

[Everydaymatters]

Now that CUS has been remodeled, what is the procedures for checked luggage? When we arrive in CHI, is the conveyor still there?

If we want to check our suitcases for a few hours after arrival, are there still lockers somewhere?

Edit: We will be in a sleeper coming into Chicago, but from Chicago to our home station in Illinois we will be in coach. I don't know if we can use the ML these days under these circumstances?

 

[the_traveler]

Yes, you can use the ML if you have a sleeper on the inbound OR outbound segment!

I'm not certain, but I think the baggage check-in is where the old ticket counter was. (The new ticket counter has moved up near the ML) you can also store your bags in the ML, but then you'll have to hand carry them on the Cardinal which has very little sporage, being a single level of train.

 

[kbmiflyer]

You can leave them in the Metro Lounge as an incoming Sleeper passenger. Some folks have concern that the baggage in the metro lounge is self check and not officially monitored, but I have not been concerned leaving luggage there. I think you are even allowed to hang out in the metro lounge until your Illinois service boards, even if you are in coach.

 

[Cardinal]

The counter for checking luggage is now located next to the baggage claim area.

 

[amtrakpass]

Previous poster was correct that baggage check in is now by the baggage claim. Besides the lounge for sleeper passengers I think i saw a sign saying $10 per bag parcel check available to coach passengers. No overnight storage. It looks like all the lockers were removed

 

[Skyline]

The area next to the ML is in a separate, albeit unlocked, room. There are lots of shelves. You place your luggage on the shelves yourself in most cases, and retrieve it yourself when boarding. You don't have to show any ID to be in that room (at least not as of last May). I was mildly surprised to find no person or entity was taking responsibility for the security of luggage (or anything else!) in that part of CUS. Seems like a recipe for problems at some point. But alas, my luggage was right where I left it, apparently unmolested, when I retrieved it at boarding time. And of course, storage was FREE.

I liked the old system better. You got a receipt for any luggage you stored. You paid a modest fee. It was stored in a private area where the public couldn't go. When you wanted your luggage back, an employee fetched it for you. If you didn't get your luggage back in good condition, people and corporations could be held liable, which is probably why there were seldom if any problems.

 

[PVD]

Loss of the checkroom has come up before, and while it wasn't a change that many of us embraced, there just hasn't been any groundswell of complaints on this board about missing luggage in Chicago, or in any of the other lounges like NY or Washington where that has been the rule already. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

 

[RSG]

I was mildly surprised to find no person or entity was taking responsibility for the security of luggage (or anything else!) in that part of CUS. Seems like a recipe for problems at some point. But alas, my luggage was right where I left it, apparently unmolested, when I retrieved it at boarding time. And of course, storage was FREE.

I liked the old system better. You got a receipt for any luggage you stored. You paid a modest fee. It was stored in a private area where the public couldn't go. When you wanted your luggage back, an employee fetched it for you. If you didn't get your luggage back in good condition, people and corporations could be held liable, which is probably why there were seldom if any problems.

There is an "entity" taking responsibility for luggage in the Metropolitan Lounge---it's a security camera, with prominent notices mentioning its presence. It's true that there have been few problems reported or encountered. On my way out of town in July, I ran one piece of luggage from Rosemont (near ORD) to CUS and chucked it in the luggage room of the Met Lounge around 7 AM for eventual departure on the California Zephyr that afternoon. When I returned close to departure time, it was exactly where I left it---surrounded by 150 other pieces of luggage, which made extraction a bit challenging.

The biggest issue with the new luggage room at the Met Lounge is the lack of foresight as to the size requirements. Red Caps routinely shake their heads and complain about the challenges of getting in and out of the room with luggage, and grumpy passengers who are expecting a bit more given the other aspects of the ML fume at being unable to get in and out unimpeded during peak hours. Again, it's an example of the person/s who designed it never having to have had to use the service it provides.

Still, I prefer the new setup to the old one. I had a few encounters with surly Red Caps who seemed to resent being stuck with "lounge duty" and one longtime attendant who yelled at me when I attempted to bring luggage unchecked past the entry way. I don't pay the prices which grant me access to the Met Lounge to be treated that way. There is a snafu situation with the current setup, but there was with the old one as well, particularly for those who didn't understand how they could temporarily store their luggage and trundled up to the counter to inquire and then looked puzzled when told the area to which they needed to go was directly behind them (because to them, the door they came in was behind them). I expect if problems arise the situation will change with the new location, but it's nicer for experienced travelers to just go where they need to go without having their hand held by employees who'd rather not do so in the first place.