ATA & Midway airport?

[mkymouse4ever]

Anyone fly out of midway or with ata in chicago lately? How was check in? Lines? Security? Thanks, MKY

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Bump.

I'm curious too.

 

[kathy387]

I wish I could tell you that everything was flawless with ATA at the end of October when we took our trip, but I'd be lieing.. We flew from Milwaukee to Midway, landed out in the middle of nowhere, took a shuttle to the main terminal and almost missed our flight. The reason...we went from a 21/2 hour layover to a 25 minute layover. The trip home was worse. We sat at Midway for almost 5 hours {supposeto be a 3 hour layover} because of delayed flights...5 hours for a 25 minute flight to Milwaukee. Why didn't we get a rental car and drive to Milwaukee...because that would mean that our luggage had to be tracked down, we'd have to find a rental car and that would probably be worse than sitting with all of the construction going on. If you're traveling with kids, pack them some snacks or a sandwich. We paid more for dinner at Midway than any of the counter services at Disney. It's true that ATA is a cheap airline so remember, you get what you pay for...from now on we'll allow more $$$for airline travel.

 

[atigeg]

Yikes, what a nightmare with ATA!
We haven't flown them since 9/11, but we just got a great deal on them for Easter weekend to Orlando. Meanwhile, we'll be flying United Thanksgiving weekend and American in January and February (all out of O'Hare). I'll post a report on what's going on at O'Hare when we return. We are planning to park in an independent parking lot that has a shuttle to the airport...that will be a first for us.
I consider ATA to be a "generic" airline, but we have never really had a horrible experience with them. From what I've heard from others, we are lucky! The only major delay we've ever experienced was due to a horrendous snowstorm. O'Hare was closed, and we were waiting in Orlando to see if Midway would be closed too...surprisingly, after a three-hour wait, it wasn't!! I would have preferred to just stay in Orlando, but we ended up making it home safely. We did have to abort our first landing attempt, as a small aircraft skidded out in front of us. Thankfully, everyone on board it was okay. Midway's short runways always make me nervous.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[kel3420]

One of my closest friends just flew out of Midway last week to Vegas, and I believe she was on ATA. She said the security was very tight, she was frisked (extensively) at two checkpoints. Maybe because she was flying alone..?? She mentioned that the flight itself was great, and both coming and going, the plane actually left early "ladies and gentlemen, it appears that everyone is on board and in their seats, and with that we will leave early", so she arrived both times 20 minutes earlier than scheduled.

She did also mention however that the airport in Vegas has way more security, which I think is normal for the larger airports, like in Orlando, Chicago and NY, amongst others. I would still recommend that you get there several hours early.

Have a great trip.

On a side note, she completly forgot a nail file in her purse, and was almost denied boarding privledges after being interrogated in a side room with agents. So ladies PLEASE remember to go thru your purse and carry-ons to get rid of any nail files, tweezers, etc.!!!

 

[drusba]

Security is tight at both Midway and O'Hare. However when I flew out of Midway the security line was significantly shorter (about 20 minutes) than when I flew out of O'Hare with United (1 1/4 hours), and at O'Hare that was at 4:30 in the morning when I first got in line.

 

[Trekker]

JMHO!

If you have a choice of Chicago or Milwaukee to fly out of, Midwest Express out of Milw. beats ATA hands down for service.

We have found them to be about $50 -$75 more pp than ATA. But on a vacation for $1000's I like the peace of mind knowing I',m going on a carrier I can trust.

All of thier plans are first class seats only - wide, leather, 2 across seating. (I'm sure this is not news to most of you)

 

[mkymouse4ever]

Thanks for all the replies! Hope we have good luck. we usually fly ata out of midway, cause we live just south of chicago. We have an early flight, but was told midway only opens at 5am, so that's the earliest to get there. Our flight is 7:45 so I plan on being there at 5am. (just in case). wdwtrekker, that sounds like a great deal! to bad I'm not interested in driving to milwaukee, as is chicago is 30 miles north, but in our traffic here that's roughly 1 to 3 hours on the highways just to chicago! (depends on what time of day it is). Well I will report when we come back also! Happy flying! MKY

 

[LynnM]

mkymouse

We'll be flying ATA out of Midway in Dec also. Our flight is at 8:15(for now, it's changed several times) but I didn't know that the airport didn't open til 5 am. Thanks for the info.

 

[inkkognito]

Hey, you're not far from us at all!
We are in Tinley Park, and I did some family counseling at Guardian Angel Home in Joliet.
Good luck at Midway, and wish us luck on our upcoming ATA flights in early 2002.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com
Growing old is mandatory...growing up is optional