Consolidated "Parking at/near ORD" thread
Aug 7, 2023, 10:48 pm
#211
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Greater Chicagoland Area
Programs: frontier Elite, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,455
I made the mistake of parking in the H lot in mid July. I waited for 45 minutes for shuttle bus to arrive. There was a crowd of people by the time a bus came.and in CTA bus style, two buses arrived at the same time. I ended up missing my flight but fortunately got on next flight to EWR and hour later and it didn't really ruin my plans.
The worst part was I felt trapped there. I could see the car rental tram stop across Mannheim but was not really sure how to walk over. I kept thinking bus could arrive while I was trying to walk over. Not sure if you could call a ride share there as you show as being on airport property. This was at like 430 in the morning and bus didn't arrive till 515.
Next time I'll park in the G lot bc that seems to be the staging area for the shuttle buses. I noticed this when I returned back to my car on the shuttle. The off duty buses looked like they were parking at G and while I was waiting in H, I saw several buses pull up and leave G.
Another reason I'd park at G lot in the future, is it seems that worse case scenario, it's a shorter and easier walk to walk out of there, down Bessie Coleman for a block or two and cross Mannheim to get to the car rental tram stop.
On the return trip, around midnight, there was a shuttle waiting at the tram when I got off. That driver was really nice and wanted to let me off by my car vs at the official stop in the lot. She just said let her know when I was close to my car and I could get off.
I thought 1.5 hrs before my flight was enough time and maybe would be if shuttle were reliable or if I park at G lot next time. It was not enough time on this particular trip.
I had ran to the team, off the team to T1 security and to my gate. I must have missed the 15 minute pre gate closing by 3-5 minutes at most. This trip, a lot of little things added up. I didn't get pre check probably bc my name on UA was initialed differently than my ID. The TSA agent initially tried to deny me entry. Any one of these points that cost me an extra minute or two made me just miss my flight, but again, things worked out for me luckily.
The worst part was I felt trapped there. I could see the car rental tram stop across Mannheim but was not really sure how to walk over. I kept thinking bus could arrive while I was trying to walk over. Not sure if you could call a ride share there as you show as being on airport property. This was at like 430 in the morning and bus didn't arrive till 515.
Next time I'll park in the G lot bc that seems to be the staging area for the shuttle buses. I noticed this when I returned back to my car on the shuttle. The off duty buses looked like they were parking at G and while I was waiting in H, I saw several buses pull up and leave G.
Another reason I'd park at G lot in the future, is it seems that worse case scenario, it's a shorter and easier walk to walk out of there, down Bessie Coleman for a block or two and cross Mannheim to get to the car rental tram stop.
On the return trip, around midnight, there was a shuttle waiting at the tram when I got off. That driver was really nice and wanted to let me off by my car vs at the official stop in the lot. She just said let her know when I was close to my car and I could get off.
I thought 1.5 hrs before my flight was enough time and maybe would be if shuttle were reliable or if I park at G lot next time. It was not enough time on this particular trip.
I had ran to the team, off the team to T1 security and to my gate. I must have missed the 15 minute pre gate closing by 3-5 minutes at most. This trip, a lot of little things added up. I didn't get pre check probably bc my name on UA was initialed differently than my ID. The TSA agent initially tried to deny me entry. Any one of these points that cost me an extra minute or two made me just miss my flight, but again, things worked out for me luckily.
