Midway Airport ?

[pixxi]

We are flying out at 7:25am we live about 3.5-4 hours away and were going to take a bus to the airport. The problems we are having- the bus gets to Midway at 6:05am. I have never been to Midway Airport is this doable? If it was Milwaukee I would say so, if we check in before arrival.

If you think it's not doable, is there a cheap hotel near the airport to for 2 adult and 4 kids so we can arrive the night before via bus?

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We are flying out at 7:25am we live about 3.5-4 hours away and were going to take a bus to the airport. The problems we are having- the bus gets to Midway at 6:05am. I have never been to Midway Airport is this doable? If it was Milwaukee I would say so, if we check in before arrival.

If you think it's not doable, is there a cheap hotel near the airport to for 2 adult and 4 kids so we can arrive the night before via bus?

What day are you flying out? Getting through security for early morning flights on the weekend seems to be easier than weekdays. We live about 5 minutes from Midway and still arrived 2 hours before our flight last Saturday just to be safe. We drive under the pedestrian overpass/security line most weekdays at about 7:30 am and we've seen some really long lines, so we didn't want to chance it.

There are several hotels near Midway, but not sure of their rates. Try www.midwayhotelcenter.com to check rates.

 

[pixxi]

What day are you flying out? Getting through security for early morning flights on the weekend seems to be easier than weekdays. We live about 5 minutes from Midway and still arrived 2 hours before our flight last Saturday just to be safe. We drive under the pedestrian overpass/security line most weekdays at about 7:30 am and we've seen some really long lines, so we didn't want to chance it.

There are several hotels near Midway, but not sure of their rates. Try www.midwayhotelcenter.com to check rates.

We are leaving on a Thursday. We live on the otherside of Madison,WI and didn't want to drive down. Thanks for the hotel link, I'll take a look. Do they have seperate family security lines? How long did it take you to get through the line that Sat.?

 

[supersnoop]

I haven't seen a security line for families in a long time, but they always moved slower. They got the unorganized, infrequent travelers out of the way for everybody else. Midway sometimes has a line open for people without roller bags. There will be a line for "premium passengers" and TSA precheck. But even the precheck line moves slowly at Midway.

 

[Belle0101]

Now I'm a little concerned. I'll be traveling by bus to Midway, on a Monday, with an expected arrival of 6:30AM, flying out on Southwest at 9:00AM. Barring any traffic delays, that's 2 1/2 hours. That's probably okay?

 

[pixxi]

We are taking the bus from Madison at 2:30ish am and it stops a couple of places and the final stop is Midway at 6:05. The flight is at 7:25. We get dropped off, so no parking needed. If we have our boarding passes already printed, so all we have to do it check luggage and get through security and to our gate... I think it might be ok but we don't travel a lot.

Is 1 hour and 25 minutes enough time? We are usually a well oiled machine, no lagging behind. I would also assume that from 2:30am to 6am the hwy won't be congested (on a Thur). I can see it is cutting it close, would love an extra 15 min. but don't have that right now.

I would love to avoid paying for a hotel on top of bus for 6 people. I picked these tickets to save money for the inconvience they cause in distance travel.

Anymore opinions?

 

[Belle0101]

I just looked at Southwest's Airport Information page and it states for Southwest that you should arrive 120 minutes (2 hours) before your flight.
https://www.southwest.com/html/air/airport-information.html

pixxi, what airline are you flying?

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We are leaving on a Thursday. We live on the otherside of Madison,WI and didn't want to drive down. Thanks for the hotel link, I'll take a look. Do they have seperate family security lines? How long did it take you to get through the line that Sat.?

It took us about 35 minutes to get through security last Saturday as we were singled out for "special" attention by the TSA. We made it to our gate about 75 minutes before our flight.

 

[pixxi]

Belle0101 we are flying with SouthWest. I do wonder if the 2 hours is more for SW benefit so they don't have a liability if someone missed their flight. I read that American Airlines said 1.5 hours before.

My husband wants us the take the bus and thinks we should be fine if we are prepared! Gives me anxiety thinking about it. I also don't want to sit at the gate for 75 min. either.

 

[supersnoop]

I suspect this will be the time consuming part. The line to check luggage on Southwest is, in my experience, always very long. And it's the same line to check in and get a boarding pass, so you aren't saving anything there.

 

[PlutoPony]

How often is the bus on time? You're cutting it really close with the 6:05 arrival, if it's late at all you're in real trouble. SW will start boarding the flight 30 minutes early so 6:55. Your chances of being at the gate THEN are very low, especially considering you have to go through the bag check line as well as TSA. It's possible if you do make it to the gate before the flight leave it will be late in the boarding process, leaving you with seats scattered all over the plane. If you have plans to sit with your children you might want to prepare them to sit alone, so you don't start the trip off on a bad note.

Personally, cutting it this close with 4 kids and checked bags would stress me out. If you miss this flight, you need 6 seats on another. How open is the next flight, are there still multiple seats left of Wanna Get Away fares?

 

[frozenheart]

My concern would be the bus getting there on time.
I usually get to MDW about 1.5-2 hours before my scheduled flight. Since you'll have your boarding passes already checking in luggage shouldn't be that big of a deal. In my experience, I've never had to wait long to check my bags in. Security has always been the most time consuming for me and even then it's been like 20-30 minutes to get through.
I feel like I've only had good experiences at MDW, or maybe I just travel during low volume time periods. Ha, IDK.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The big unknown is whether or not the bus will be on time. You never know what will happen. Traveling on my own or with my husband, I'd go for it. Traveling with a family of 6, I'd be worried and would get there the night before. If you miss the flight, it may be very difficult getting all of you together on another flight.

 

[bumbershoot]

Do they have seperate family security lines?

We are usually a well oiled machine, no lagging behind.

If you guys are good at TSA lines, you do NOT want a family line to exist. IME when they have them, they send ALL families through it and many families are slow slow slwo, and you'll be behind them. They won't believe you if you say you know what you're doing.


Alas, when getting savings on a flight, you always have to check your transportation options and costs to make sure it'll be a savings! I made the error years ago with Disneyland, flying into ONT only to realize that the transportation was vastly different in cost than LAX or SNA. Erased all my savings.


Just in case the link given already doesn't cover all hotels, I'd go somewhere like hotels.com and check the area with their site. See if there are some economy places, then go from there (booking directly, or however). Just use them as a way to find the info.

 

[alliecat523]

2 hours is recommended but I've only ever arrived 1 hour before flight time. At that hour, TSA should be light but obviously anything is possible. Same with traffic. I think your plan is feasible but it really depends on your comfort level. If you're unsure, go early and get a hotel.

 

[Madzac]

We always fly out of MDW and always arrive 1.5 hrs in advance. So far we have never had an issue and even had time to grab lunch before boarding. I think if the bus runs on time you should be good. Maybe call the bus company and see if they can tell you how often that bus is on time? I know no guarantees but might make you feel better.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I would be concerned with that amount of time. sW lines are long every morning. Can take 20 min t get through SW line to check luggage even if you have boarding pass. Then security lines in the mornng are slow. We have arrived 2 hours ahead for a 7 am fight and still had little time left by the time we got to plane. Depends on the day etc. Not sure what bus costs but there are much lower cost parking lots around midway than Ohare. And some have coupons tI reduce cost even more. Just Google midway parkng. Or at the very least get a room the night before. I would be a hot mess worryng about it.

 

[NotUrsula]

IME, Midway's security line is always massive early on a weekday morning. The SWA lines for bag check can also be pretty long, but TSA is the real issue. It isn't unusual to have 1000 people lined up to get through.
There was an article on the issue in Consumerist just recently: http://consumerist.com/2015/08/14/s...sually-long-security-lines-at-midway-airport/