Passenger Pickup - KORD Chicago O'Hare Edition

iamtheari

iamtheari

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I may be picking a passenger up from O'Hare on a weekend in late January. We'll probably spend a night in Chicago just because going straight from a 15-hour cigar tube into a 5-hour GA flight just sounds awful, even if she doesn't have a long wait at customs and immigration. So ... both with and without the overnight stop to try to see the sights (maybe the Home Alone house or a blues club since it'll be winter), where should I fly into?
 
I would do KPWK or KDPA both have good services, PWK is easy to get to ORD by rental car and DPA is a bit further out but slightly cheaper in fees.
 
How much do you want to spend? The landing fee and fuel at O'Hare is ridiculous. Hundreds of dollars.

There’s a ton of options, you could try 06C and eat at Pilot Pete’s, there’s ramp parking easy gate access with unicom code, unsure if they charge fees for a single night as I usually just go there for the restaurant.

PWK is convenient, UGN is further north but also an option, self service fuel was $6/gal the other day. You’ll find cheaper fuel at BUU.
 
A friend of mine does this trip frequently. They’ve tried going into ORD and PWK and concluded that PWK was easier and faster to get into and over to ORD for a commercial flight than it was to land at ORD and get to or from the passenger terminal.
 
iamtheari said:
I may be picking a passenger up from O'Hare on a weekend in late January. We'll probably spend a night in Chicago just because going straight from a 15-hour cigar tube into a 5-hour GA flight just sounds awful, even if she doesn't have a long wait at customs and immigration. So ... both with and without the overnight stop to try to see the sights (maybe the Home Alone house or a blues club since it'll be winter), where should I fly into?
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Fly her one more leg commerically to a closer airport. It's January. The weather will be crap.
 
I'd say PWK is the best bet.

I'm based at KDPA and it's a notably longer drive to O'Hare from here than if you land at PWK, especially with traffic. And if you plan to drive down into the city at all PWK is also positioned better for that.

If you were going to be here for a few days I'd say the cost/benefit might be better at KDPA, but for just an overnight -- PWK is the way IMHO.
 
EdFred said:
Fly her one more leg commerically to a closer airport. It's January. The weather will be crap.
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On this side of Lake Michigan, once we get that deep cold Canadian air, it actually turns into a nice VFR winter… with the occasional snow storms. We only have days of OVC007 because it’s 4-8*C and humid.


iamtheari said:
I may be picking a passenger up from O'Hare on a weekend in late January. We'll probably spend a night in Chicago just because going straight from a 15-hour cigar tube into a 5-hour GA flight just sounds awful, even if she doesn't have a long wait at customs and immigration. So ... both with and without the overnight stop to try to see the sights (maybe the Home Alone house or a blues club since it'll be winter), where should I fly into?
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Sounds like you want the GA side of the trip to commence at an airport near hotels? Will you have a car? Or need to rent one? Or does proximity to ORD even matter?

Overall for this mission, I’d vote PWK first, then 06C or DPA. ORD landing + signature fees are currently at $230. PWK has more nearby hotels than restaurants… DPA has more food options than hotels in the immediate area. PWK has on site car rental (Hertz IIRC?). I’ve never seen car rental at DPA, but they do offer shuttles and courtesy cars. 06C is physically the closest to ORD and in a nice area and has car rental nearby but not on the field. FBO is Revv now and I think they have courtesy cars. If you don’t want to deal with car/Ubers, MDW would be an option, but don’t stay near the airport - stay in the loop.

Another idea, whichever weekend it ends up being - base yourself at 1C5 and host a breakfast event!
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/com...8-kjvl-bessies-1800-z-1200-cst.132211/page-22
 
RyanB said:
Who’s the lucky lady? ;):p
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One who will not take kindly to being stranded alone in Chicago! :)

Thanks all for the input so far. Commercial is an option, too, but a big part of my GA mission is making up for insufficient commercial air service. So I always evaluate GA against commercial and then decide which is best for a given trip.

In this case, my passenger would be arriving around 3 p.m. on a 15-hour Emirates flight, in coach, so the options are:
  1. Book a two-leg commercial flight to the nearest airport to home. Need to allow a few hours for customs/immigration, delayed arrival, getting back through bag check and security, etc. Due to airline schedules (last flight leaving is 6:00 p.m., which is not a comfortable margin for the 3:00 p.m. international arrival), this means spending the night in Chicago and catching a 6:00 a.m. flight, which doesn’t sound like fun when already jet lagged and exhausted.
  2. Book a one-leg commercial flight to an airport about 6 hours away by car. Arrive there at 11:00 p.m. and spend the night there for a 6-hour drive in the morning.
  3. Book a one-leg commercial flight to Minneapolis, which is about 3 hours by GA as opposed to 5 hours to Chicago, so we are in the same basic boat as what I posted this thread about except with one extra moving part, that being a commercial flight on a separate itinerary with no help if the inbound flight is delayed.
  4. Fly GA from Chicago home, either the afternoon/evening of the arrival there or after spending a night and taking in something of the Windy City.
I don’t think we would rent a car, just Uber around town as needed. It could be as simple as Ubering from a reliever airport (O’Hare doesn’t seem like a good option by any measurement) to O’Hare with a “welcome home” sign and a funny hat, then Ubering back to the plane and flying home right away. Or we could get a hotel and relax a bit before getting back into the air. Flexibility is the key to safe GA travel, so I try not to paint myself into a corner as far as airports without any lodging or food within Uber or courtesy car reach.
 
Given you have only late afternoon and evening, get a hotel by Rosemont / by the airport, enjoy a nice steak and chill until the next morning. Chicago in January is not conducive for sight seeing anyway. Anyplace you stay you'll be hunkered down anyway escaping the cold and random drive bys. Schlep back to PDK for flight home the next day.
 
Agree with PWK being your GA airport of choice for the arrival and next morning departure, if overnighting in downtown Chicago and seeing some sights is the plan (good plan if you are trying to ward off the jet lag bear). From PWK though, I’d order a black car and tell ‘‘em what you need. For a reasonable fee they will just park it in International parking and wait for you to come back. Uber out of O’Hare to the Loop will range from $50 to $150 making the black car a reasonable alternative. Raddison Blu downtown is a wonderful hotel in a good location.
 
masloki said:
Agree with PWK being your GA airport of choice for the arrival and next morning departure, if overnighting in downtown Chicago and seeing some sights is the plan (good plan if you are trying to ward off the jet lag bear). From PWK though, I’d order a black car and tell ‘‘em what you need. For a reasonable fee they will just park it in International parking and wait for you to come back. Uber out of O’Hare to the Loop will range from $50 to $150 making the black car a reasonable alternative. Raddison Blu downtown is a wonderful hotel in a good location.
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You bring up a good point. I was thinking of staying out of the loop because no real sight seeing. BUT depending on what you want to spend, you could see if you there is a nice hotel with a lake front view open. Should be nice restaurants close by (and of course - Giordano's!) But after a 15 hour flight, your date might not want to spend another 45 minutes in a car.

BTW - does anyone else remember when PWK was officially called "Palwaukee"?
 
WDD said:
BTW - does anyone else remember when PWK was officially called "Palwaukee"?
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Wait a minute - it's not? Huh.
 
kayoh190 said:
Wait a minute - it's not? Huh.
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It’s officially called “Chicago Executive” now.

I used to to work 1/2 mile from there. An office friend was a ppl, and once in a while at a long lunch hour he’d take us up for a quick run along the shore line.

Then I remember when a Navy pilot landed a fighter there by mistake instead of Glenview Naval Air Station next door (which closed and is now filled with condos I think). Runways aren’t that long at PWK. Taking off was problematic. They brought in a test pilot, stripped what they could to reduce weight, minimal fuel, and got it airborne for a quick 5 mile hop over to the naval base.
 
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The Palwaukee name predates me even being a pilot, but it's hard to call an airport with the identifier "PWK" anything else. ATC doesn't seem to mind.
 
iamtheari said:
Due to airline schedules (last flight leaving is 6:00 p.m., which is not a comfortable margin for the 3:00 p.m. international arrival)
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Having done a lot of this sort of thing 3 hrs seems adequate to me, bordering on generous. Familiarity may however breed contempt and therefore YMMV.

I’m happy that there is now a non-stop flight home from my usual overseas destination, no more rechecking bags etc.
 
Tusayan said:
Having done a lot of this sort of thing 3 hrs seems adequate to me, bordering on generous. Familiarity may however breed contempt and therefore YMMV.

I’m happy that there is now a non-stop flight home from my usual overseas destination, no more rechecking bags etc.
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If I drive between 1 and 3 hours, I can get direct flights to MSP and DEN. If I drive 6 hours, I can add a once-daily to ORD. I love where I live, but we do come up short on airline accessibility.

I would be comfortable with the 3-hour connection if it were booked as a single itinerary, where the airlines will help you out if you are delayed (held at origin, headwinds greater than forecast, long taxi, long line at customs/immigration, etc.) But unfortunately that's not possible for this trip.
 
I know I'm a total newb, haven't even had my first lesson yet, and this may be a dumb question, but does the first flight have to be Emirates to O'Hare? Any other options for the inbound international leg? Perhaps a nicer city a bit further south? Maybe St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas?
 
Andy Ericksen said:
I know I'm a total newb, haven't even had my first lesson yet, and this may be a dumb question, but does the first flight have to be Emirates to O'Hare? Any other options for the inbound international leg? Perhaps a nicer city a bit further south? Maybe St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas?
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I actually checked into that, and even considered California so I could get a PAXREP (passenger report) on what it's like to ride in an A380. But the ~9:45 a.m. departure from DXB looks like the last US-bound nonstop flight of the day and lines up well with the passenger's other plans in Dubai. Chicago is also the closest place to me that has a nonstop flight from DXB. My life would be a little easier if the passenger didn't mind hanging out at DXB for 16 hours waiting for Air France and connecting at CDG for a flight to MSP, but that's asking a lot of someone to save myself from a couple of hours doing what I love.

By the way, get going on those lessons. It's true what they say, "...a mile of runway will take you anywhere."
 
Jim K said:
The Palwaukee name predates me even being a pilot, but it's hard to call an airport with the identifier "PWK" anything else. ATC doesn't seem to mind.
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My dad used to work there about 30 odd years ago as a chef(or someplace right near there). I guess I will always call it Palwaukee.
 
Maybe a little depends on what direction you are flying from. In at 3:00 international, should be options to connect up domestically to get closer to you.

January weather could be ok, or completely unworkable.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Them there is fightin' words. Watch it newb.;)
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I'm not taking it back :cool:

My dad's from the Chicago area. I'm from Florida and Chicago is the first place I ever saw snow, in January. I was on a work trip... my boss said 'bring a jacket'. I had a jacket, it was a Florida jacket :oops:. I went to the rental car counter and they tossed me the keys... I'd never seen snow before, so I played bumper cars in the rental lot for a minute or two, then off onto the highway :D Fun times! :)
 
Andy Ericksen said:
I'm not taking it back :cool:

My dad's from the Chicago area. I'm from Florida and Chicago is the first place I ever saw snow, in January. I was on a work trip... my boss said 'bring a jacket'. I had a jacket, it was a Florida jacket :oops:. I went to the rental car counter and they tossed me the keys... I'd never seen snow before, so I played bumper cars in the rental lot for a minute or two, then off onto the highway :D Fun times! :)
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Though more commonly known as the Windy City, we’ve been called City of Big Shoulders.
 
Okay, new question. Assuming I survive the nicest city in America and depart KPWK in VFR day conditions and the Bears aren’t playing the NFC championship at home, is it worth doing a lakeshore tour despite my northwesterly course? I see there is a published VFR flyway recommending at or below 2500 MSL and I could follow that from the Bahai temple to Meigs, make a big left 270 to head west along the north side of I-290 at 1500 MSL (~800 AGL) below the 1900-foot floor of the Bravo, and sneak out around the northeast corner of the KDPA Delta. It would add 42 nm onto a 737 nm flight, although I’d be lower and slower for those 42 than the rest of the trip so call it 20 minutes.

Local pilots: Is this a bad idea, good idea, or “that’s not even a thing” idea?
 
People fly lake shore all the time - the only issue I remember is on days when ORD traffic is coming over the lake, you may end up uncomfortably close ( at least by my standards ) to some of these jets …
 
iamtheari said:
Okay, new question. Assuming I survive the nicest city in America and depart KPWK in VFR day conditions and the Bears aren’t playing the NFC championship at home, is it worth doing a lakeshore tour despite my northwesterly course? I see there is a published VFR flyway recommending at or below 2500 MSL and I could follow that from the Bahai temple to Meigs, make a big left 270 to head west along the north side of I-290 at 1500 MSL (~800 AGL) below the 1900-foot floor of the Bravo, and sneak out around the northeast corner of the KDPA Delta. It would add 42 nm onto a 737 nm flight, although I’d be lower and slower for those 42 than the rest of the trip so call it 20 minutes.

Local pilots: Is this a bad idea, good idea, or “that’s not even a thing” idea?
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I would say yes. The lakefront tour is pretty special, especially for people who haven't had that ga experience; it's hard to believe you can get that close to the big buildings. If I understand your post correctly, you're looking at threading the needle between the mdw and ord surface areas...I haven't done that specifically as I'm always coming from the south, but @Martin Pauly just did a video maybe a week ago where he flies that exact route. I believe it's called the "Eisenhower transition". The best part of the tour is obviously north of mdw, so you wouldn't be missing anything by doing that. I've always gotten flight following along that lake, so even if there's a sportsball competition going out shouldn't be a problem.

Flying the Eisenhower transition in Chicago
 
iamtheari said:
Okay, new question. Assuming I survive the nicest city in America and depart KPWK in VFR day conditions and the Bears aren’t playing the NFC championship at home, is it worth doing a lakeshore tour despite my northwesterly course? I see there is a published VFR flyway recommending at or below 2500 MSL and I could follow that from the Bahai temple to Meigs, make a big left 270 to head west along the north side of I-290 at 1500 MSL (~800 AGL) below the 1900-foot floor of the Bravo, and sneak out around the northeast corner of the KDPA Delta. It would add 42 nm onto a 737 nm flight, although I’d be lower and slower for those 42 than the rest of the trip so call it 20 minutes.

Local pilots: Is this a bad idea, good idea, or “that’s not even a thing” idea?
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I would definitely recommend the Chicago skyline tour both day and night. Basically just fly up/down the lakeshore under 3000’ MSL (stay over the lake to keep clear of the Bravo ring) and circle the downtown area (the cluster of tall buildings). 1700-1900’ MSL are the ideal altitudes for sightseeing and avoiding jet traffic above.
 
iamtheari said:
Okay, new question. Assuming I survive the nicest city in America and depart KPWK in VFR day conditions and the Bears aren’t playing the NFC championship at home, is it worth doing a lakeshore tour despite my northwesterly course? I see there is a published VFR flyway recommending at or below 2500 MSL and I could follow that from the Bahai temple to Meigs, make a big left 270 to head west along the north side of I-290 at 1500 MSL (~800 AGL) below the 1900-foot floor of the Bravo, and sneak out around the northeast corner of the KDPA Delta. It would add 42 nm onto a 737 nm flight, although I’d be lower and slower for those 42 than the rest of the trip so call it 20 minutes.

Local pilots: Is this a bad idea, good idea, or “that’s not even a thing” idea?
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Do it! It’s wonderful! It’s what I give all my “new to GA” passengers. I do the whole thing at 1600-1700’. Going from the lakeshore to the Eisenhower transition I climb for buildings and I cut over around soldier field. Two items to consider: 1) get on FF, helpful for spotting helicopters which can be thick as thieves some days; 2) Emergency outs include the beach (along lake shore) and parking lots on the Eisenhower transition. I usually follow Madison st which is the first big wide road north of he Eisenhower (I-290).
 
It's a pretty view / unique view. Honestly - I might not add that hour onto a 737 mile trip unless your passenger was really interested.

That's a long time in GA if you haven't done it before. My $0.02.

Could their intro flight be down the lakeshore and back (Baha'i is easy to spot and nice checkpoint coming back into PWK), then stay the night and hit your 737 mile trek in the morning?
 
Terry M - 3CK (Chicago) said:
It's a pretty view / unique view. Honestly - I might not add that hour onto a 737 mile trip unless your passenger was really interested.

That's a long time in GA if you haven't done it before. My $0.02.

Could their intro flight be down the lakeshore and back (Baha'i is easy to spot and nice checkpoint coming back into PWK), then stay the night and hit your 737 mile trek in the morning?
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It's my #1 frequent flyer passenger with about 75 hours logged this year, including a few 3-hour legs, so I think she'll be fine and mostly sleep off the jet lag on this one. But I'll definitely get her input before adding to the trip; that's a good suggestion.
 
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