<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Starman:
Just out of curiosity, how much will it cost you to park at ORD, and gas for the roundtrip drive? Can this possibly offset 500 miles?</font>
Free! For two reasons:
(1) I'm dragging another person along with me, so he can wait in the car curbside while I check in. It's what traveling companions are for.
(2) Even if I were traveling solo, ORD parking gives you 10 free minutes before charges being to incur. In the past, I have checked in and returned to my office (when I worked nearby) without getting a charge. Park on the "Blackhawks level" if possible. In the pedestrian sky bridge connecting the parking garage to the UA terminal is a bank of ~10 Easy Checkins. Throw in the CC and grab the BP...one can be out of there in under 10 minutes!
BTW, gas is a non-issue as I'll essentially be driving past ORD en route from my house to MKE!!