father in law threw a kink in our plans

[Hannathy]

If they are going to either of the Chicago airports early in the morning maybe the FIL doesn't like to drive in horrible rush hour traffic! Chicago traffic can be terrible and maybe getting older her doesn't feel comfortable. Also for an early morning flight out of Chicago you have to allow easily an extra hour cause you never know when you might be in a parking lot on any of the expressways.

I have left my car at both Chicago airports without any problems.

When we plan vacation I always plan on paying for either staying overnight and leaving the car or long term parking and then if someone offres and actually comes thru great if not I have already planned for it.

I'm also in the camp that I would never be able to go away on vacation if I had so little in reserve that having to pay for parking was a deal killer.

Just be very happy he told you 6 weeks away he could have told you 6 hours away!

 

[disykat]

Giving you plenty of notice to find alternative arangements is not inconsiderate. Expecting somone to drive 4 hours so you can go on vacation and save a few bucks is inconsiderate.

I agree. Transportation is part of the cost of a vacation. The 69.95 a week deal you'll probably find to park your van is way more convenient than someone driving back and forth twice IMO. Be happy he gave you plenty of notice and start shopping for a deal!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

Again, I'm a big believer in helping out your family and friends. In my family, it would be a given that someone would step up and take you to the airport if needed and without expecting anything in return. So sorry that you don't have this in your life.



Also, I was raised to believe that when you tell someone you're going to do something for them, it's kind of shady to back out, barring something drastic happening. Apparently, not everyone has this in their values.

Wow!

Hello! I do have this in my life. I have a mother who lives less than 1/2 hour from me. She is at my house everyday and watches my kids when I work and babysits my dogs when we do vacation. And I do hers. And yes, if I asked her she would take me to the airport. But I think its inconsiderate to get someone out of bed at the break of dawn to drive an hour(our distance from the airport) back and forth and drop us off for our vacation.

Its OUR vacation, not hers.
As the OP thinks it was inconsiderate for her FIL to back out. I feel it was inconsiderate of her to even ask. And I'm also in the camp if $100.00 for parking is going to break her budget , then maybe she needs to reschedule and rethink this trip.

 

[jennyf2]

WOW....I'm shocked at all the negative comments. My family & friends always offer each other rides to & from the airport, regardless of the time of day. It saves $$$ & its a huge convenience! IMO thats what friends & family are for helping each out when able....I am lucky enough to work at the airport & park for free I'll be the first to admit--I am cheap & I would hate to spend $100 for parking when it could be used towards something fun while on vacation... JMO.....

Have a GREAT trip OP.....

 

[DVCBELLE]

Who said he was using his car? he has a focus. We have three kids and two adults. most of us would have to ride on the roof.

We have a minivan. So my gas. ALSO, we dont dine out cause our son has many allergies that make it hard, we cook from scratch. No soy, no dairy, no beef, no egg, no peanuts and almonds. and our gift to them? They live RENT free in my rental house while he's unemployed.

My husband is Work at home. I only go out every other thursday for groceries. I spend less than $30 a month on gas.

I didn't jump down your throat and I was trying to point out other options for you to pay for it.

To be honest - if I was in your situation I would cancel the trip until I could go and enjoy myself and my budget wasn't so tight but I do understand that at this point you probably would not get back your money so it makes no sense to cancel.

A quick internet search shows that you can get airport parking for $7-8 a day at either airport.

Its nice that you are letting FIL live for free in your house...but that is seperate from this UNLESS you made this a condition of living there. I have learned you can't do things for others and expect the same in return - its rare that you won't be disappointed.

 

[Octoberbabiesrus]

I'm sorry, but I think you're being too hard on your FIL. Giving you plenty of notice to find alternative arangements is not inconsiderate. Expecting somone to drive 4 hours so you can go on vacation and save a few bucks is inconsiderate. Honestly, if you don't have wiggle room for an extra $100 in your budget, I wouldn't be going on the trip to begin with. However, since you're going anyway, I would scale everything back to the bare minimum (to save even more than $100)...counter service only, no table service meals, skip soft drinks and drink water only, drop hoppers if you have them, whatever you can think of. Unless you were planning on staying in a offsite motel and eating PB&Js for the week, I'm sure you can find a way to find an extra $100.

Free dining, we only drink water as it is, no park hoppers, we are allergic to gluten and PB, onsite is cheaper for us.

 

[Octoberbabiesrus]

OP: Have you asked your MIL? Or your parents? Perhaps one of them would be willing to do it.

parents dead, MIL would NOT even consider it. She wont even go to the library a block away from her without FIL.

 

[Octoberbabiesrus]

To be honest - if I was in your situation I would cancel the trip until I could go and enjoy myself and my budget wasn't so tight but I do understand that at this point you probably would not get back your money so it makes no sense to cancel.

A quick internet search shows that you can get airport parking for $7-8 a day at either airport.
.

I didnt mean to be short. I was merely upset with the negativity being thrown out. With ALL I do for others, I cant even rely on anyone for a damn thing. It gets OLD. I was venting cause I was super frustrated.

Also, I cant cancel a trip. It would cost me money. My husband has NO wiggle room with his vacation time due to his company only releasing so many hours for a 60 person team to use. He's got 30 hours on vacation time left, and litterally no where to take it!

Yes I saw parking for 9 at the lowest. Times that by 6, fuel charge, taxes, "transfer fee" and were talking 80 bucks. plus, I dont like the area its in. Asking a family member to help out is NOT unreasonable. I didnt call a distant relative who I see once a year.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I didnt mean to be short. I was merely upset with the negativity being thrown out. With ALL I do for others, I cant even rely on anyone for a damn thing. It gets OLD. I was venting cause I was super frustrated.

Also, I cant cancel a trip. It would cost me money. My husband has NO wiggle room with his vacation time due to his company only releasing so many hours for a 60 person team to use. He's got 30 hours on vacation time left, and litterally no where to take it!

Yes I saw parking for 9 at the lowest. Times that by 6, fuel charge, taxes, "transfer fee" and were talking 80 bucks. plus, I dont like the area its in. Asking a family member to help out is NOT unreasonable. I didnt call a distant relative who I see once a year.

Do you have ANYTHING you could sell on ebay or craigslist?

What about market studies in your area? Or can you offer to babysit for anyone a couple of times in the next few weeks?

 

[Hannathy]

Wait, For $80 you want someone to give up 6 hours of their life, fight Chicago traffic, pay tolls, get up in the middle of the night and Gas is about $4 a gallon!

Sounds very penny wise pound foolish to me!

Exactly how much money do you think you will be saving? possibly $25 bucks? I certainly wouldn't get up in the middle of the night and fight Chicago traffic for $5 an hour (and I'm rounding up a lot)

You have to look at the whole picture and subtract your costs before comparing.

 

[swissfamilyrobinson]

OP - I'm with you! I would be frustrated too, and I don't blame you for being irritated. If FIL offered, you thought you had that taken care of and checked it off your list.

I will say, you are mighty kind in giving him a place to live, rent-free, and, I'm guessing, obligation free. It would seem, since he's unemployed, that it wouldn't be too much skin off his nose for him to take y'all to the airport and then pick you up a week later - using your vehicle and gas, no less! I can't imagine what his excuse would be - knowing that in six weeks, he will be unable to take you.

I don't blame you for not wanting to cancel your vacation. And it's okay if there's no wiggle room. Plenty of people budget for vacations, and work like the dickens to not go over budget. And very few of us have unlimited funds. We just hope for the best that we can stay in our monetary guidelines!!!

I hope you go and have a wonderful time. And perhaps you can find some paying renters so you can have a little extra cash! (Just kidding)

 

[nuke]

Midway park ride and fly is in a not so nice area. It's all industrial but the lot is locked and the bus follows you to your parking space. You unload, get on the bus and you're on the way to the airport. The return is the same. The bus takes you right to your car. I don't know what they charge anymore but a few a years ago it was $7 or $8 a day. You can prepay online and save some money too.

 

[pigletto]

WOW....I'm shocked at all the negative comments. My family & friends always offer each other rides to & from the airport, regardless of the time of day. It saves $$$ & its a huge convenience! IMO thats what friends & family are for helping each out when able....I am lucky enough to work at the airport & park for free I'll be the first to admit--I am cheap & I would hate to spend $100 for parking when it could be used towards something fun while on vacation... JMO.....

Have a GREAT trip OP.....

I am going to completely agree. My Fil actually has gotten up at a ridiculous hour to drive us to a very early flight. He graciously helps us with things like that all the time. He also has no problem asking us for help with the pool or painting or moving something for him and we make every effort to be there for whatever he needs.

We're FAMILY. That's what we do.
If he cancelled on us as in this posters case I may be disappointed, but I would understand.

OP.. make sure to check the parksleepfly.com website. I have seen it mentioned here often and when I looked I saw that there are really good deals to be had.

 

[The Pink Cupcake]

Did he say why he can't do it?

At least he have you ample time to solve your problem

I will say, if I didn't have a few extra dollars to spare, I would be terrified to fly off to Walt Disney World. You guys are brave

Good luck!

 

[luvthemouse71]

They are two seperate issues.

Expecting someone to get up in the middle of the night to drive you two+ hours to the airport is a bit much, non? Feeling entitled to it is even worse.

And once the cost of gas is factored in (since OP said they are using her van and her gas), it will be cheaper for her to drive herself and her family to the airport and park rather than pay for 8+ hours of driving.

OP has plenty of time to come up with an alternative solution.

It most certainly is not a separate issue- if you are an adult living rent free in someone's home, you're a drain financially. If you are unable to give anything money wise, then you should be contributing in another way. I mean, it's not like the FIL works- what else does he have to do? Again, this is excluding something drastic that needs attention.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

They are indeed separate issues. If one offers another the free use of a home without the expectation of payment THAT is the agreement. Would it be nice if the FIL offered and followed through with a ride to the airport or other favors? Absolutely... but in no way is it the same issue. Perhaps the FIL isn't comfortable sitting a car for so long. Perhaps traffic makes him nervous. It's my guess that this isn't the first time OP's in laws have disappointed her.

It most certainly is not a separate issue- if you are an adult living rent free in someone's home, you're a drain financially. If you are unable to give anything money wise, then you should be contributing in another way. I mean, it's not like the FIL works- what else does he have to do? Again, this is excluding something drastic that needs attention.

 

[cinabug]

Did he say why he can't do it?

Yes, the why seems very important in this issue. If you do lots of things for him. most notably letting him live rent free, it seems like he would need a good reason to turn you down.

On the other hand, I was planning to have my Aunt drive us to the airport from her house to save the offsite parking fee and this thread is making me reconsider. We are taking her daughter on the trip with us at our expense, and she would no doubt be happy to do it, but I'm rethinking it considering the time and effort she would put in.

Also, I personally feel safer with my car in a secure lot than parked on a residential street in a city. I went on a trip last year and found a good coupon for park-n-jet just by doing a little online searching.

Whatever you decide, I'm sure this will be a blip on the radar for your overall trip, probably nearly forgotten by the time you leave.

 

[Fyrefly]

As a possibility, do you have any trustworthy older teens you know that might be willing to make a quick $50 for 4 hours driving? $12.50 an hour is more than most of them probably make so you might get takers, its about half of what you'd pay for with a lot, and no worries about leaving it somewhere sketchy.

 

[n2mm]

Wow, is all I got to say about some of these comments.

OP, do what we do when our adult kids can't provide us with a FREE ride! And yes they do provide us with a FREE ride, and I do expect it and they do offer it and actually fight over who's taking us and who's picking us up. Esp. since I will watch the grandkids for FREE whenever they need me to, and my DH will pick the grandkids up for FREE from daycare when the big kids get stuck in traffic. Funny how family does all of this stuff for FREE. But lets not forget the free DVC accommodations I provide when they want to go to WDW with us. But we do drive our own car and they drive it home, plus they use our car to pick us up, so we are paying for the gas, wear, tear.

OP, what we do when schedules don't work out, one of the adult kids drives my DH to the airport the day prior and he picks up a rental car and drives it home and we drive it back the next morning and take ourselves. It generally will cost less then $30, and sometimes there are great last minute fares. We are National club members, so we always have free days we can use for this method. We are an hour away from the airport. Plus we do have tolls for the Dulles greenway, but it still works out. In November we had to do this because some of the adult kids and grandkids went with us, and we just needed one bigger vechicle to take everyone instead of parking 2 cars at the airport for a week. Much cheaper. I think with my free day it cost me $1.29.

 

[GinnyEmma]

It most certainly is not a separate issue- if you are an adult living rent free in someone's home, you're a drain financially. If you are unable to give anything money wise, then you should be contributing in another way. I mean, it's not like the FIL works- what else does he have to do? Again, this is excluding something drastic that needs attention.

I would disagree. I would never expect someone to be my servant or chaufeur because I did something for them. It is the expectation that is wrong. It is a no win situation. The father obviously had something come up and gave a ton of notice.

If the financial drain of the father living in the home is too great, then the family needs to find another answer.

We have had to cancel vacations on many vacations, and sometimes that has caused the loss of money. Sometimes crap happens. Worse, what if something happens down there, and there are no funds available. That to me would be terribly scary.

Everyone "needs" a vacation. That doesn't mean they aren't of benefit, but I always shake my head when I read it. Sometimes you just have to find better more convenient ways to deal with the stress of life.