pointspinnacle

Hi! (mods please move this if necessary, wasn't sure where to put it)

Im from MKE and going to Midway to fly Southwest airlines to Atlanta soon and want to just drive down i guess. Anyone have any good parking suggestions or know how much it is to park at the airport? I hate the thought of paying $29 day or whatever. It would be for 4 days.

With Ohare we typically take a coach line bus from MKE to ORD for about $50 or so one way but i don't think there are any coach line buses MKE to Midway.

Can anyone help out or suggestions?

ORDMD80

Another thought is to take the Amtrak down to Union Station and then walk a few blocks to the Orange Line CTA train, which goes to Midway. It will take longer, but it will avoid traffic and the parking issue.

As far as parking goes, there are a lot of off-airport parking facilities near Midway. I am not really familiar with any of them enough to make a recommendation, but you might find some listings on-line. The neighborhood is not the best, but I think the parking lots are pretty secure.

pointspinnacle

Thanks for the response, any estimate on the cost of the train option? from union station to Midway?? i know the amtrak hiawatha from milwaukee to chicago is $44 roundtrip for 1 person. So about $90 roundtrip for both of us without the traffic but how much from union station to midway on the train?

obscure2k

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Obscure2k
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ORDMD80

The CTA is $2.25 per person, one way. You can purchase a fare card in the lobby of the station and load it with $4.50 and use 1 card for both of you.

chgoeditor

Offsite parking at MDW seems to be pricier than offsite parking at ORD. I just priced 5 or 6 days at MDW, and the cost was about $75 or $80, which seemed ridiculous considering that you can find offsite parking at ORD <$10 a day. If anyone has any inexpensive suggestions, I'd welcome them.

legalalien

I strongly suggest taking a train, especially if you don't have much luggage. Driving to MDW will almost always involve going through heavy traffic, unless you do it at night. Amtrak + Orange L should take just over 2 hours, which is very comparable to driving time.

It looks like r/t from Milwaukee to Chicago Union Station is $46, so the total cost will be right around $50 per person.

FindAWay

I'm not sure if it would work for your particular situation, but, taking Metra (http://metrarail.com) from Kenosha (depending on parking availability for 4 days - Station Parking Contact is 262-653-4287 and/or depending on other means of transport for you to the station) to Ogilvie Transportation Center (near Union Station in downtown Chicago) would only be $8.25 per person each way (+$2.25 for the Orange Line to MDW that you could walk to would be $10.50 per person each way).

Also, there are several buses from Milwaukee to downtown Chicago, where you could transfer to the Orange Line to MDW.

Here's a website with a good overview of options...assuming it is up-to-date: http://kiwinc.itgo.com/mwc/mke_chi.html

hindukid

Even though I live in the city and could easily take the el I tend to drive to MDW. Because its easy and I park for free.

Little known secret but its actually very easy to park for free at MDW. Park on the south side of 63rd just east of Cicero. There are no meters and no permits required. I normally park on Keating on Kilpatrick between 63rd and 64th.

I normally drop my wife at the terminal, let her check bags and then go park. Its about a 5 block walk to the terminal or about 12 minutes. If you walk to the parking garage/CTA area behind the terminal its very easy and there is sidewalk the whole way. Just walk north on keating or kilpatrick and cross 59th. Once you cross 59th you are in the employee parking lot. Just follow the sidewalk and it will lead into the short term parking garage.

MDW is the only airport in the US I have found that's easy to walk to and I love it that way. You can't park between 59th and 63rd because its permitted. I have never had any problem finding spots between 63rd and 64th.

From the time I drop off my wife with bags I can be back in the terminal within 17 minutes. 10 minutes if I choose to run. Never had an issue with the safety of my car, though I do still purposely bring the old car.

chgoeditor

Wow, great to know. Thanks.

glg

I slightly hesitate at the walking bit if one has a lot of luggage. It's about 4 blocks from either Union (Amtrak from MKE) or Ogilvie (UP North from Kenosha) to the Loop L stations on Wells. If one has a lot of luggage it could be a pain, especially if trying to swim upstream during afternoon rush (which I do from my office by Union to the Loop L, can be annoying enough without bags)

hyderago

This is going off on a bit of a tangent... there are actually a few more airports that are easy to walk to, even in the US. For example, I've walked to SAN from downtown.

You might be interested in this:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/budge...ave-money.html

toomanybooks

If you decide to use a commercial lot, you might consider the one I have happily used for years:

http://www.parkrideflyusa.com/

Located on 47th Street, W of Cicero maybe 4 blocks. Very prompt, good drivers, a few minutes away. Little wait. Choice of covered or outside parking. Much better deal overall than whatever the city of Chicago provides.

Last I checked, about $9-10 a day, with a decent frequent renter program.

cjk177

+1 - Just used them last week and I'll definitely use them again.

toomanybooks

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