Question for Chicagoans

[DenverCrow]

Okay, I don't know if this belongs in here, but I'll ask anyhow.


I'm flying into Chicago this summer, and I want to know which airport would be better to fly into from Denver. Milwaukee, Midway, and O'Hare are my options. I'll be staying with my girlfriend's parents in northern Chicago.

[VivaLFuego]

Midway is most convenient, and only about 20-25 minutes from downtown on the L.

[DenverCrow]

Thanks!

Also, my girlfriend wants to go to her old suburb, Des Plaines, we need a good way to get there without a car. Does the L transfer out that way cheap, or is a bus better?

[VivaLFuego]

Thanks!

Also, my girlfriend wants to go to her old suburb, Des Plaines, we need a good way to get there without a car. Does the L transfer out that way cheap, or is a bus better?

The UP-NW Metra Line goes straight to downtown Des Plaines, surely the easiest way to get to Des Plaines by transit.

Depending where you are starting from in Chicago, you can either catch the Metra train at the downtown terminal, or at Jefferson Park (which is near the interesection of Lawrence/Central). There is a Blue Line L stop at Jefferson park with a direct transfer to the Metra line.

Metra Schedule here:
http://metrarail.com/Sched/cnw_nw/cnw_nw.shtml

[Grego43]

I assume that by Northern Chicago you are talking of the Northern suburbs. If so, it would depend on how far North her parents are...ORD or MKE would be the logical choice...can you hit up her parents for a ride from the airport? MDW is on the Southwest side...quite a haul to the Northside.

[j korzeniowski]

des plaines is not that far north, and it is practically right next door to o'hare. i have family in des plaines, and they are almost always on o'hare pick-up duty when family flies in.

*oops, second paragraph made no sense.*

[Latoso]

Go to O'hare. It's right in the area you're looking to go.

[VivaLFuego]

Go to O'hare. It's right in the area you're looking to go.

The thing is, if you're taking transit instead of getting picked up by car, Midway is faster since the ride to downtown is only 20 minutes (I timed it at 19 minutes from Roosevelt to Midway when I flew out last week). Contrast this to 50+ minutes from O'hare to downtown via the Blue Line. That's all I'm sayin...

Not to mention, Midway's size makes it an overall more pleasant experience

[urban_encounter]

Okay, I don't know if this belongs in here, but I'll ask anyhow.


I'm flying into Chicago this summer, and I want to know which airport would be better to fly into from Denver. Milwaukee, Midway, and O'Hare are my options. I'll be staying with my girlfriend's parents in northern Chicago.


A lot will depend on what airline your flying on out of Denver...

Southwest and Frontier fly into Midway..

I live near Loyola North Shore Campus and i really don't notice a time difference as far a drive times for both airports. Or at least when heading to the airport at off commute hours.


As far as airport convenience, I prefer Midway.. It has the feel of a small airport and not an airport handling 30+ million passengers a year.

You will more frequently experience flight delays at O'Hare.

Whereas most of the delays at Midway involve getting the luggage unloaded off the plane and onto the luggage carousel...

Good luck and enjoy your visit.

[BnaBreaker]

As far as access to the city is concerned, Midway and O'hare are pretty much a toss up for me. Definitely rule out Milwaukee. lol

[bnk]

Go to O'hare. It's right in the area you're looking to go.


I would go with his post.

[OhioGuy]

I agree with VivaLFuego. Midway is the better option. For one, it has much quicker El access. Two, it's a smaller airport which makes for a much more pleasant experience (less hectic there). Three, it's not as likely to be negatively impacted by weather conditions as O'Hare. With non-stop direct flights offered by both Southwest & Frontier between Denver & Midway, I'd probably go with one of them.

Despite the fact I live in Lincoln Square and I'm much closer to O'Hare, my preference will always be Midway. I can hop on the El and take it all the way there (brown to orange). O'Hare involves taking the stupid Lawrence Avenue bus through horribly traffic clogged Albany Park to Jefferson Park and transfering to the slow-ass blue line to head out to O'Hare. Such a hassle. Midway is the clear winner for me.

(I'm probably flying down to Houston in 2 months and despite the fact I prefer United over Southwest and I could actually save a little bit of money flying United, I'm still going with Southwest specifically because of Midway.)

[fflint]

I flew into and out of Midway earlier this month and found it a hassle-free experience, and a very quick ride to and from the Loop via the Orange Line el. My prior experiences with O'Hare, which admittedly were a long time ago, were more stressful.

[Chicago103]

Midway is my airport of choice for every place that it flies to, if you are flying overseas you pretty much have no choice but O'Hare but other than that I would reccomend Midway. Its true that its a much shorter ride to downtown from Midway on the Orange line than from O'Hare on the Blue line. If you are lucky enough to be going to some place with easy Metra acces I would reccomend taking the Orange line from Midway to the Loop and then walking to whatever Metra terminal to get where you are going, so even if downtown is not your immediate destination Midway is alot more convinient.

[Chicago3rd]

Okay, I don't know if this belongs in here, but I'll ask anyhow.


I'm flying into Chicago this summer, and I want to know which airport would be better to fly into from Denver. Milwaukee, Midway, and O'Hare are my options. I'll be staying with my girlfriend's parents in northern Chicago.


O'Hare is more conveniant for the northern parts of Chicago. The airport is large, but very very manageble.

[Chicago3rd]

Thanks!

Also, my girlfriend wants to go to her old suburb, Des Plaines, we need a good way to get there without a car. Does the L transfer out that way cheap, or is a bus better?

Take the Blue Line to Jefferson Park (about 15 minutes) then take the Metra from there (about 15 mintues) to Des Plaines

SCHEDULE
http://www.metrarail.com/Sched/cnw_nw/cnw_nw.shtml#MAP

MAP
http://www.metrarail.com/Sched/cnw_nw/cnw_nw.shtml#MAP

[hulkrogan]

O'hare is just brutal. I would go to Midway for sure. Midway has never made me miss a flight, wish I could say the same for O'hare. It's definitely being run over capacity right now and it sure makes for a shitty experience. I've never been anywhere where you need to show up that early for a 1 hour domestic flight. I could go on and on... up there with LAX as the worst big city airport I've been to.

[Chicago3rd]

O'hare is just brutal. I would go to Midway for sure. Midway has never made me miss a flight, wish I could say the same for O'hare. It's definitely being run over capacity right now and it sure makes for a shitty experience. I've never been anywhere where you need to show up that early for a 1 hour domestic flight. I could go on and on... up there with LAX as the worst big city airport I've been to.

Never have problems. Security takes me nothing to 10 - 15 minutes. Midway can bottle neck too....but over all both airports are so easy. Of course I fly American Airline. It amazes me how easy it is to get from gate to curb at either American Airline or United Airline terminals.

T-Day 2005 we had no wait at security when we got there at 6 p.m.

[alex1]

if the plan is to get to her parents house via pick up, fly to o'hare. If the plan is to go downtown and lug whatever luggage you might have around and catch a metra train to the north burbs, fly to midway. O'hare will be the much easier choice for you if someone's picking you up from teh north burbs.

When I fly to the Bay Area, I always go into Oakland just because it's easier for my brother to get pick me up. I'm all about making things easier on whomever's picking me up.

[Tom In Chicago]

Yeah. . . if you're getting picked up or are planning on taking a cab, just fly into O'Hare. . . you're flight options are probably better as well since DIA has many cheap flights on United and you'll have priority getting in and out. . . Midway is not a bad airport, but it's probably just as much of a hassle taking public transportation from there as it would be from O'Hare. . .

[MSPtoMKE]

I've done the trip from Midway to the Northwest Suburbs via transit, and it was long and exhausting, and i generally have a high tolerance for such things. To be fair, I was lugging a lot of luggage, but the L station at midway is not particularly close to the terminal, and you have to walk several blocks to the Metra station downtown. Really, in order to give good advice on which airport to fly to, you need to know where in "Northern Chicago" you are going to from the airport (I gather that it is seperate from a trip to Des Plaines), and whether you will take transit, cab, or be picked up.

[brian_b]

If you want to go straight to Des Plaines from the airport, O'Hare would be the best option.

Otherwise Midway seems to be a bit nicer for getting downtown quickly.

[hulkrogan]

Never have problems. Security takes me nothing to 10 - 15 minutes. Midway can bottle neck too....but over all both airports are so easy. Of course I fly American Airline. It amazes me how easy it is to get from gate to curb at either American Airline or United Airline terminals.

T-Day 2005 we had no wait at security when we got there at 6 p.m.

My last trip I left downtown at 6am on a Friday morning, got stopped dead on the freeway (couldn't believe how much traffic there is going away from downtown at 6am) and then the terminal itself was completely jammed with cars. It took quite a while to get anywhere near the terminal. Then, inside the line for security was snaking all through the terminal, and all of the people in front and behind us in line had also missed their flights. Compared to Minneapolis where I flew to on NWA, there was about an eighth of the metal detectors and Xrays at O'hare.

The united terminal did look quite a bit more modern compared to the rest of the airport, but still, as a whole it's up there for the worst airports in the US and Canada.

[Chicago3rd]

My last trip I left downtown at 6am on a Friday morning, got stopped dead on the freeway (couldn't believe how much traffic there is going away from downtown at 6am) and then the terminal itself was completely jammed with cars. It took quite a while to get anywhere near the terminal. Then, inside the line for security was snaking all through the terminal, and all of the people in front and behind us in line had also missed their flights. Compared to Minneapolis where I flew to on NWA, there was about an eighth of the metal detectors and Xrays at O'hare.

The united terminal did look quite a bit more modern compared to the rest of the airport, but still, as a whole it's up there for the worst airports in the US and Canada.

Have you ever driven the Stevenson to Midway.....and been caught on it....lol? As far as operations goes both airports are far superior to most of the airports in the states that I have been too.....my humble opinion (and I ain't originally from here).

[hulkrogan]

Have you ever driven the Stevenson to Midway.....and been caught on it....lol? As far as operations goes both airports are far superior to most of the airports in the states that I have been too.....my humble opinion (and I ain't originally from here).

I've flown through/landed in LAX, SFO, Salt Lake City, O'hare, Minneapolis, Toronto, Montreal (Trudeau), Edmonton International, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, Kahului, Honolulu, Schipol (Amsterdam), Lisbon, Heathrow (long time ago) and Gatwick (long time ago) and I'd have to say that O'hare and LAX were in the bottom two. Mind you I haven't been to all of those airports enough to make a sweeping judgment, except for LA. LAX always has, and always will suck.

[alwaysonthefly]

is an excellent alternative from Denver to the Northwest Chicagoland area (i.e. - Des Plaines); do youself a favor and check out UA's non-stop DEN-RFD service.