My son has a short layover at Midway Airport Chicago. He is a college student and we have not seen him for a very long time. He wants us to meet with him and of course feed him. All the food at Midway is past security. He only has about forty minutes free time and we do not know how to get past security to meet him and buy him lunch? Does any one know how to do this or have a great idea?
Thank You we really miss him.

The most legitimate way to do so would be to buy two very cheap one-way tickets on Southwest and just not board the flight.

Otherwise you can buy two refundable tickets and return them after you're done with lunch, though the ethics of this have been debated in this forum.



I have no experience with this, but perhaps a call to a local Midway airline outpost or the airport itself could yield a courtesy pass if you make a real stink. Calling your local representative's office as well if you have the time too.

take a picnic basket & eat outside in 15 minutes....thats assuming its a conx & he has a bp for the flight....

Welcome to Flyertalk, Don Luigi. Please continue to follow this thread in the Chicago Forum.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Hey! I think I know the answer to this! Or at least, a potential answer.

According to what I've read here on FT, airlines will sometimes issue "gate passes", which will act in the stead of a boarding pass for non-passengers to enter the sterile area. Most commonly these are issued to the parents of minors who are flying unaccompanied, and to the companions of people with special needs, to escort them to the gate or meet them at arrival.

Call the airline that your son is travelling with, explain the circumstances, and request gate passes. My guess is that they will limit the number - you might only get two - but it will allow you to enter the sterile area and wait for your son's flight, grab a quick bite, and walk with him to his connecting flight.

Considering how long security can be at MDW, I'd be wary of having someone with only 40 minutes free leave the secure area and have to clear again.

You might be able to sweet talk a ticket agent into giving you gate passes, but if that fails then you've gone to Midway for nothing.

As nba1017 mentioned, buying refundable tickets, using them to clear security, and then getting them refunded seems to be a popular option, although I've never tried it. It will tie up some $$ on your credit card until the refund clears, since refundable tickets tend to be expensive.

Or you could *really* surprise him and buy a ticket for his connecting flight so you can spend even *more* time together. :-)

Thanks to everyone for the ideas.
I have called Southwest and they suggested the gate pass!
But they would not give one ahead of time, I have to go to a ticket agent and ask for one and hope they say YES! If I do not get a gate pass then we have gone to Midway for nothing! Buying one way tickets is not affordable as they of course would be the most expensive to get the refundable ticket. His college is sending him to New York City for a convention, so I cannot afford to go (they college will not take us) and I do not want to go to NYC after "SANDY" !
We will go and ask! Hoping for the best!!!!!
P.S.
He is scheduled to come thru on NOV. 8, so the trip may end up being canceled due to the situation in NYC.
We hope not as we want him to enjoy the trip and we really want to see him !!!!!!
Thanks

One of the things you need to take into consideration is he only has 40* minutes if his flight arrives ON TIME. If it arrives late, then the 40 minute window is shot.

* Is that 40 minutes a true free 40 minutes, or is part of that 40 going to be boarding the next plane, which closes its doors 10 minutes before departure?

Cheers.

Well, the classic FT suggestion for this situation is to buy a refundandble ticket, get your BP and then cancel the ticket.

But as the OP mentions below, that's not economically feasible.

The trip is on Thursday (if it's not canceled). Hopefully the OP will come back & let us know how it worked out.

Cheers. Sharon

OP must not have a credit card or must have one with a very low credit limit if they can't float a refundable plane ticket for a day or two. One-ways on SWA departing MDW tomorrow can be had for under $200 per person. I found those ballpark prices for flights to MSP/DTW/STL but there may be other options. The destination doesn't really matter if you are simply going to cancel the ticket. But in those cases, you would only need an extra $400 or so in "available credit." Unless your credit cards are maxed out that shouldn't be a problem for most folks.

I think when the OP said they couldn't afford a one-way refundable ticket, they were responding to my admittedly cheeky suggestion to surprise their son by flying with him to his destination. If you're just going to get through security to visit him, then the final cost doesn't really matter unless your credit card status would not permit that.

Not our bizness.

Also, if someone's had a lot of travel & hasn't gotten reimbursed by employer yet it could eat up a lot of credit on their credit card. And depending on the airline it can take weeks to get refunded (yes United, I'm looking at you).

Can't speak for Midway prices but where I live refundable plane tickets are $1K+.

Cheers. Sharon

Don't forget about cheap Frontier flights too under $70 sometimes!

This is why airlines should issue gate passes for any request especially during slow period when all the TSA people are roaming around doing nothing. The buying of a ticket just to get by security with no intention of flying is rediculous even know I have done it myself.