Please help with family fight: How bad is ORD???

[DisOrBust]

Dh and I are in a knock down drag out! I want to save 500 and fly out of ORD instead of MKE. He said traffic and parking are worth the 500 extra. Personally I think he's nuts . Any advice out there????


TIA!
Sue

 

[crzykid]

I fly out of ord for the most part. Traffic is bad but then again it all depends on what day and the time of day. All the times i have been we had hardly any traffic (early departure and late arrivals). IMO i would save the extra money to spend at wdw. ORD is not that bad to make me drive all the way to milwaukee.

 

[inkkognito]

Although I usually fly out of Midway (mainly because we tend to fly ATA), I've flown from ORD many, many times and it's not much worse than a typical big-city airport. I know that it's famous for flight delays, but I've never experience a really bad one there myself (probably just lucky). We always park at an off-site lot because the shuttles to the ORD lots are a zoo. If you do an internet search or PM me, I can point you to a couple of the lots with coupons. We like Avistar because you drop off and pick up your car inside a building. It's valet with no extra charge.
Barb

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I don't know about traffic/parking, but I haven't had any problems with flights out of O'Hare.

 

[beccasmom]

I haven't had any issues at O'Hare. I like it much better than my home airport - PHL. But I also haven't had to park there.....

 

[disneyleslie]

We live in MKE as well and we have flown out of ORD many times to save cash. We live in Tosa and it takes 1hr 20 min with no traffic to get there. We park for 8-9 a day and they shuttle us to the terminal and back.

MKE is more convenient because we live here but I wouldn't hesitate to get non-stop or save a bunch of money.

Leslie

 

[disney4me4ever]

I think the other things to consider are what time of year you are going and what the times of your flights would be. I've been stuck/stranded at O'Hare more times than I care to remember in the winter. The other issue is on-time arrival. O'Hare has alot of groundstops, which really hold you up. By using farewatcher services (like on Travelocity) you can get an email when a fare drops to a certain level and save a bunch of $$$ that way on your ticket. Good luck!

Nancy

 

[Chicago526]

O'Hare isn't that bad. Trafic from MKE to ORD will just depend on what day and what time your flights are. Parking at the cheapest O'Hare lot (remote) is $13 per day. The airport itself is rather well organized and well run. Weather delays are a problem in the winter of course. But summer thunder storms can play havok with the system too. If you're traveling in the summer, try for a morning flight, our storms in the summer tend to be in the afternoon or evenings.

 

[PrincessCandaceMarie]

I fly in and out of O'Hare Int'l all the time and have never been delayed...how lucky can I be???

 

[nuke]

I don't think O'Hare is bad at all. I would not recommend Avistar for parking though.
I had one friend that parked there and the "valets" ran down her battery. They jumped it but then her electrical system was messed up and had to be reset by the dealer.
I parked there and when I got back all of my radio presets were changed. This leads me to believe that they were sitting in my car listening to the radio! Too creepy for me!
I only park in self parking lots now and lock and alarm my car myself. A lot I've used recently that I really liked was at the Marriott Suites O'Hare. You park right by the guard gate so someone is there 24 hrs to keep an eye on the car. We had a coupon for $7.95 per day.
I've also parked in O'Hare's remote lot for $13 a day. They have a monorail that takes you to the terminal and it's pretty fast.

 

[Ames]

Wow $500! I've heard some really bad stories about O'Hare but have not flown from/to there. Midway is nice. I've heard rumors that some hotels will shuttle you for free and let you park there for free. Perhaps it might be less of a headache to drive down a night early and try that if its true.

It did take us 2 hours to drive to Midway but we also were flying out around 10 am so hit some rush hour.

But I have to ask, wouldn't you much rather fly Midwest and get chocolate chip cookies?!?!

 

[vossjemi]

Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread, but I have an airport question. Sometimes our airport has really good weekend deals to Chicago...sometimes its to ORD and sometimes to MID. I've thought often of taking one of these 3-4 day trips and staying near Magnificent Mile. I've never been to Chicago before, so I don't know which airport would be better for such a trip? Thanks, and you may resume your regular programming.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread, but I have an airport question. Sometimes our airport has really good weekend deals to Chicago...sometimes its to ORD and sometimes to MID. I've thought often of taking one of these 3-4 day trips and staying near Magnificent Mile. I've never been to Chicago before, so I don't know which airport would be better for such a trip? Thanks, and you may resume your regular programming.

I would not consider the airport to be a factor in such a decision. Both ORD and MDW offer close and efficient public transportation from the airport to the downtown area and taxis are readily available at comparable cost from either airport.

Ralph

 

[inkkognito]

In theory, Midway is closer to the city (of course, I am a born and raised southsider so that probably influences my preference). But I agree with the previous poster...base it on airfare rather than location. It's not hard to get to the city from either airport, and I think both have their pros and cons. Even though we usually use ATA at Midway, that's mainly because of the fares. Before they came around, we used O'Hare all the time.
Barb

 

[HappyLawyer]

it really depends on when you are traveling, i never park there i take a limi, company has a flat 40,00 rate, i use them, if not they have the parking places where you park the car and they shuttle you to the airoport

 

[inkkognito]

If you use a limo, pick your company with care!!
We always used to use a limo to ORD until we got burned three times. A company that we used to use suddenly went in the toilet. Didn't show up twice...the first time, they came eventually, and the second time it was so late that we just drove. After that, we tried another company. The driver showed up and then started driving in the opposite direction of ORD. He said, "I'm picking up another person. Didn't you know it's a shared ride?" They had never said anything about that beforehand, and worse yet, the other person was not ready because she had wanted her pickup to be an hour later! I had paid in cash at the beginning of the ride, so I was shafted. It taught me never to use a service that won't take credit cards. We arrived at the gate literally as the last call for our plane was being made. Now, we either drive or have family take us.
Barb

 

[Brian Noble]

I avoid ORD whenever possible between about mid-december and late march. The layout of the runways makes it next to impossible to keep a full flight schedule there when it is snowing more than scantily.

If you are flying anytime other than winter (or you would connect from MKE through ORD anyway), I'd get a towncar or limo to take you round trip from home to the airport. It will probably cost you no more than $200 total or so. You can save $300 total (plus maybe another $70 in parking for almost $400), and have a very relaxed trip to and from the airport.

never to use a service that won't take credit cards

Amen!

 

[DisOrBust]

My Dh has now seen the light. However if we run into problems there will be alot of "I told you so... ." This is a quicky surprise trip for my 2,7 and 10yo DD. They think our next trip is in 2 years. Well our APs are burning a hole in my pocket,lol!

Here is my plan. Take the girls home from school and pick up DH at work, St Francis for those of you Wisconsinites, at 5pm. The flight is TEd at 9pm. I had thought of drving a remote parking at Ohare.

Anyone done a Limo from Milwaukee to ORD?? I personally hate the whole shady towncar business and avoid it as much as I can.

Barb the offsite Parking..how long do the shuttles take? Will they be running at 11pm ??

Has anyone remote parked? Will it be full on a Friday night??


Thanks All! Today I buy airfare so then I am commited!


ALSO!! What car rental agencies are "in" terminal at ORD.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I live 5 minutes from ORD but fly almost exclusively out of MKE, Midwest Airlines. Most often Midwest is about the same as any fares out of ORD, and I gladly make the 45 minute drive there for the convenience of MKE and that airline. $500 though would prompt me to do ORD, LOL. Just recently, earlier this month, I did fly to MCO, from MKE, as usual, but my DD came a few days later and we had her fly TED, which was fine, great fare.

Enjoy.

 

[inkkognito]

Avistar is 24 hours a day. I like the fact that you drop off and pick up inside a building when travelling at off hours. You may have to wait a bit for the shuttle at an off time because you call them up when you arrive. It's never been too bad when we've used them.
I know another offsite lot right by the Candlewood Suites where you self park. The name escapes me right now, but if you want info. PM me and I can ask my husband or look it up.
Avistar lets you make a reservation, and I think the other one does too, so you don't have to worry about them being full.
Barb