Hi all,
Flying into ORD for the first time.
Anyone got any experience what's the best way to get into town?
Should I pre book a Town car for $55 or would a Cab at the airport be much cheaper?
Or should I just use the Rail service?

Any advice would be great, thanks!

http://www.transitchicago.com
CTA home page has train (the L) and bus schedules, system maps, service updates and travel planners.

$2 from ORD to the Loop, don't have to worry about traffic

A taxi will cost you over $30 and could take you up to 1 1/2 hours during rush hour. I agree with Willie, if you can manage your luggage, take the train. It's 45 minutes.

Steve

Completely agree - take the eL - safe night and day and right downtown wherever you want to go.

As everyone else has said, definitely the El. But, if you do have a lot of baggage to handle, it all comes down to how quickly you wish to arrive downtown and in what comfort level. Probably $55 in a private car, $40-45 in a standard taxi and $25 in a shared van service (www.airportexpress.com) where you may be lucky and be the first one dropped off or you might be the last. The taxis also offer ride shares for I think a flat $20 per head, but sometimes you have to wait a while before you find another person willing to share the cab with you.

I live north of downtown, and I take the El to and from O'Hare about half the time. But before jumping to the conclusion that the El is right for you, I'd ask the following:
a) What time are you arriving and departing? Are you traveling on weekdays or weekends?
b) Are you male or female, traveling alone or in a group?
c) When you say you want to get into town, exactly where are you going? The El is convenient for some destinations at some hours, but I wouldn't recommend it to go everywhere all the time for everyone.

For example, I'm a single woman. If I'm traveling alone, there are some locations where I'd only feel comfortable getting off the El and catching a cab to my final destination during daylight hours. A lot of my male friends would probably be less concerned than I am...

Also, the El fares have increased. It's now $2 per trip.

Special circumstances aside... sitting in that ORD traffic can be brutal.
$2 for the Blue Line to downtown is the way to go.

I usually travel alone (single female) and have no worries on the el - have friends up near O'Hare and have caught it back from Harlem (2 stops from the airport) in the early hours of the morning back to my hotel downtown with no worries at all.

Also, the El fares have increased. It's now $2 per trip.

Also, you can't get a transfer to a bus for $0.25 cash unless you have a Chicago Card, which is like a CTA debit card. You can still transfer between train lines for free.

Steve

Well, cash transfers are gone but you can put $2.25 on a Transit Card (the flimsy plastic one sold at the vending machines) and get transfers that way:

http://yourcta.com/maps/faretable.htm

At O'Hare station, you can usually choose your car while the train's waiting at the station. If you're not comfortable on one, simply walk to the next one. The very last one is the one the operator is in, so you know there's personnel ready. Also, the crime rate on CTA is no higher than elsewhere in the city -- in fact, given the number of people who use the system, the rate's probably lower.

That said, one caveat: if it's winter, bundle up. It can get cold on those trains.

Thank you all for your helpful replies.
Been away and only just got a chance to see your posts.
Will be in Chicago tomorrow, and going by your recommendations I'm leaning towards taking the train.

as to the questions a couple of you brought up:
I am a male.
I'm arriving mid day.
Staying at the Conrad.

On the El, do you buy your ticket from a machine or ticket office? if its from a machine is it easy to understand what type of ticket to buy?

Feel a bit stupid asking these questions, being a regular traveler except I have found sometimes this tickets machines to be a little confusing....

Thanks guys.

Buy your "el" ticket at the machine. Follow the signs at the terminal. Two bucks will get you downtown.

Enjoy your stay.

Steve

On the El, do you buy your ticket from a machine or ticket office? if its from a machine is it easy to understand what type of ticket to buy?



If you have any problems, there should be a uniformed "L" employee there to help.

Have fun in Chicago!

On the El, do you buy your ticket from a machine or ticket office? if its from a machine is it easy to understand what type of ticket to buy?

Feel a bit stupid asking these questions, being a regular traveler except I have found sometimes this tickets machines to be a little confusing....

Thanks guys.


It's not like that sort of train system. You simply put money on a card. It's $1.75 each way without transfers. You just walk up to the machine and feed it cash ($1,$5,$10,$20 bills) and when your done hit vend and it spits out a flimsy card that you put in the machine and it deducts the necessary funds and then your on the train. It costs the same to go one stop as from one end of the line to another.

It's not like that sort of train system. You simply put money on a card. It's $1.75 each way without transfers. You just walk up to the machine and feed it cash ($1,$5,$10,$20 bills) and when your done hit vend and it spits out a flimsy card that you put in the machine and it deducts the necessary funds and then your on the train. It costs the same to go one stop as from one end of the line to another.

The blue line (the only subway from O'Hare) will get you to the loop, but won't quite get you all the way to the Conrad Hotel in the Mag Mile area. You either have to transfer to the red line and take it to grand st. or you can actually walk...it's not that far...altho it's getting cold in Chicago again...so walking isn't going to be much fun.

I believe there is a blue line stop in the loop called State/Lake that will let you out close to where the Conrad is...you'll have to cross the river and walk north and east for a handful of blocks...

The blue line will let you off at Clark and Lake which is probably the closest stop walking to the Conrad. If you want to get closer, walk a block East to State and Lake (Red Line) its a free transfer and get off at Grand and that gets you like right there. It's a nice walk though if the weather's not bad.

Thank's again guys :)

Will let you know how I got on....

Three things to note:
- Please note: the base rail fare is now $2 + 25c for the first transfer + free second transfer.

- O'Hare and Midway stations also have machines that dispense CTA visitor passes (1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 days), which are a surprisingly good value if you plan on taking more than three CTA trips in a day. Even better, unlike passes elsewhere your "day" is a full 24 hours, starting the moment you first use it -- i.e., not a calendar day. Best of all, the machines even take credit cards! (Unlike NYC, the regular farecard machines don't.)

- If you're staying in the Gold Coast (Ambassador East, Indigo, Sutton Place), you can disembark from the Blue Line at Division and take a cab from the cab stand there. It's more direct than going from Clark/Lake.

(Very long term plans call for a fixed transit link from the Blue Line to Navy Pier, but don't hold your breath.)

I'm going to Chicago next week and arriving twice and leaving twice (some insane semi-mileage run thing). I need to head to the Sheraton Chicago towers and was wondering if it was safe travelling in the wee hours of the morning on the "El" is okay. I'm female, travelling alone and youngish looking carrying just a backpack.

Here are the flight times:

Tuesday: Arrive 4:55am
Wednesday: Depart 6:55am
Thursday: Arrive 2:00pm
Friday: Depart 6:00am

Thursday should be fine I would hope because there are lots of people but the wee hours of the morning ones are what I am worrying about. Should I just pay $37 for a round trip and take the El on Wednesday/Thursday?

The hotel recommends getting off at Lake/Clark and taking a $5 taxi ride but the transit website is recommending transfers at Forest Park to a bus.
Any transit bylaws preventing customers from talking to bus drivers in Chicago or do they bite? :D

Thanks for any help,
lilazncanadian

I live north of downtown, and I take the El to and from O'Hare about half the time. But before jumping to the conclusion that the El is right for you, I'd ask the following:
a) What time are you arriving and departing? Are you traveling on weekdays or weekends?
b) Are you male or female, traveling alone or in a group?
c) When you say you want to get into town, exactly where are you going? The El is convenient for some destinations at some hours, but I wouldn't recommend it to go everywhere all the time for everyone.

For example, I'm a single woman. If I'm traveling alone, there are some locations where I'd only feel comfortable getting off the El and catching a cab to my final destination during daylight hours. A lot of my male friends would probably be less concerned than I am...

Also, the El fares have increased. It's now $2 per trip.

I used to take the train. It is the easiest, and least expensive, way to go!!

lila - I cannot understand why it would recommend getting off at Forest Park and taking a bus - that is the last station on the line and is not even near downtown. That said, your early morning time to arrive at near 5AM and taking the train is not unsafe. By the time you get downtown, it will be around 6AM (assuming you only have a backpack and no checked luggage). The city is coming alive around that time and this time of year, it is very light out. If you don't mind walking a bit, the hotel is really not that far from the station (maybe a mile). It is an easy walk without much luggage.

Have fun!

It's fine safety-wise: the drunks have long since stumbled off by dawn, the trains run every 10-12 minutes even that early, and besides your fellow passengers will mostly be fellow travelers and airport workers. You will want to use the frontmost car both ways, as it's nearest the doors at both O'Hare and Clark/Lake. Early AM tends to be a crunch at O'Hare security, so you might want to budget some extra time for that.

As for the Sheraton, I'd walk the 2/3 mile -- it's a lovely morning walk along the marvelous riverfront. Even after ten years here, I still gasp at the view. Besides, none of the buses around there run that early.

(I'm male, but hardly imposing in stature.)

thanks for the great tips and advice everyone! It's much appreciated. :)

Can anyone recommend a good car service for transport to/from ORD/McCormick?

Can anyone recommend a good car service for transport to/from ORD/McCormick?
try this thread: http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=448129&highlight=limo

Um, no train service through the subway until sometime on Wednesday due to a fire.