Chicago Midway parking and timing question

[wgeo]

Hi all, I hope some of you experienced Midway fliers out there can help me out. Since it seems like SW isnt' going to lower their fares out of MKE we may be forced to go down to Midway to fly and we've never done that before. I live in small town WI and am really not familiar with driving in Chicago. I did a search of the boards about parking at Midway and it seems like parkridefly.com gets good reviews. My question is, if we can stomach the 6:00 AM flight out of Midway, how early do we need to get to the park and ride lot? I'm unfamiliar with how long it would take the shuttle to get to Midway and also how much time we would need to allow ourselves to get through security at 5:00 am on a Saturday. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - thanks.
Gina

 

[bltpoppins]

There are so many variables. Are you talking about this summer? Then you have the construction on 294 to contend with. No telling how much extra time to allot for that. Also, if you take 294 to the Stevenson (55 north), you always have traffic going north. At least the Central exit is now open last I saw.

Any chance you want to come down the night before and stay close by? My Dad gave up a seat a few months ago on Southwest and they put him up nearby. He said it was a fine place to stay. But then that would negate any savings by coming in to Chicago.

Also, what is the difference in parking between the two airports. Remember there are add-on charges to the private places.

We always park at the parking garage on 55th Street ($14/day-ouch)and the shuttles are efficient at 6 a.m. but we always allow for extra time. And I only live 20 minutes away!

 

[wgeo]

Thanks for the reply! If I did the math right, parking will be about $50 more at MDW than at MKE. But we would pay $340 to fly out of MKE and only use points out of MDW. So it's still a big savings even if parking is more money. I'm leaning toward the 10:10 flight, because that would give me a lot more flexibility in getting down to chicago, just trying to figure how much time we should give ourselves! If anyone has an approx. time from shuttle to airport I'd really appreciate it!

FWIW, we were thinking of taking 90 all the way down from WI and then just taking 50 to the parkfly area. Mapquest says we will be on 50 for about 11 miles. Anybody know if that's a bad plan for any reason?

Thanks again,
Gina

 

[disney 4 5]

For parking I highly suggest Midway Park Ride & Fly. We used them for the 1st time last month & they were awesome. Plus I found a discount code online to use. Highly suggest them for excellent & close by service.

 

[siouxi31]

50 is not a hwy but a busy street with several traffic lights. 11 miles may not seem like much but on that road it can take much longer than you expect. I have not looked up your route on Mapquest but maybe 94 to 55 to Cicero (50) would be a quicker and safer route even if it doesn't appear to be so on a map.

Having to travel that distance from MWK to MDW with being on a time-committment to make a flight would make me very nervous. I agree that you should look into a local hotel to stay overnight at just for peace of mind. Definitely get suggestions for hotels in this area if you decide to stay. One step in the wrong direction in this area and you may feel like your safety is compromised. People who grew up in this area generally feel comfortable with it, but you may not feel the same coming in from the outside. You can easily get the heebie-jeebies when you stop at a traffic light and a person walks up to car and starts to wash the window LOL.

When I fly out of MDW, I use their remote parking garage on 55th street. I haven't waited longer than 10 minutes for a bus and rarely waited that long--usually more like 5 minutes. The ride to the airport is about 10 minutes. Checking in luggage can be quite a wait for Southwest during the summer on the weekend. I would allow an hour (total) for both luggage check-in and security. If it takes less time, you'll have some relaxation time before the flight.

In summary, I like to play it safe so I get to the airport a generous 2 hours before my flight. If I were driving 2 hours to get to the airport, I'd allow an additional hour for a potential flat-tire or traffic hazzard.

Happy travels!

 

[wgeo]

For parking I highly suggest Midway Park Ride & Fly. We used them for the 1st time last month & they were awesome. Plus I found a discount code online to use. Highly suggest them for excellent & close by service.

Thanks I think this is who we are going to use. Any chance you remember how long it took you to get to Midway after you parked?

 

[wgeo]

50 is not a hwy but a busy street with several traffic lights. 11 miles may not seem like much but on that road it can take much longer than you expect. I have not looked up your route on Mapquest but maybe 94 to 55 to Cicero (50) would be a quicker and safer route even if it doesn't appear to be so on a map.

Having to travel that distance from MWK to MDW with being on a time-committment to make a flight would make me very nervous. I agree that you should look into a local hotel to stay overnight at just for peace of mind. Definitely get suggestions for hotels in this area if you decide to stay. One step in the wrong direction in this area and you may feel like your safety is compromised. People who grew up in this area generally feel comfortable with it, but you may not feel the same coming in from the outside. You can easily get the heebie-jeebies when you stop at a traffic light and a person walks up to car and starts to wash the window LOL.

When I fly out of MDW, I use their remote parking garage on 55th street. I haven't waited longer than 10 minutes for a bus and rarely waited that long--usually more like 5 minutes. The ride to the airport is about 10 minutes. Checking in luggage can be quite a wait for Southwest during the summer on the weekend. I would allow an hour (total) for both luggage check-in and security. If it takes less time, you'll have some relaxation time before the flight.

In summary, I like to play it safe so I get to the airport a generous 2 hours before my flight. If I were driving 2 hours to get to the airport, I'd allow an additional hour for a potential flat-tire or traffic hazzard.

Happy travels!

I appreciate the advice about 50 - didn't realize it was stop lights etc. We'll look at other routes. I decided to go with the 10:00 flight out so that we could give ourselves plenty of time. Thanks for the idea of wait time at luggage, we're used to Madison and Milw where there is barely any wait at all, so I'll add extra time for that too, and traffic, and getting lost Nah, we'll be fine I'm just a planner and the more info I have the better I say! Thanks again

 

[Butterbunkins]

Taking 50 (Cicero Ave) from 90 to Midway SUCKS!

There are a few hotels in the area that offer a deal to stay the night before, leave your car at the hotel during your trip for free and take a complimentary shuttle to the airport in the mornng. I have never done this since I live within a half an hour from either airport, but I know people that have. Here is a hotel that friends of mine have done this with in the past.

http://www.qualityinn.com/hotel-burr_ridge-illinois-IL379

ETA: They pick you up to take you back of course as well.