Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
by the airlines. Websites such as
Frommers.com
(www.frommers.
com),
Travelocity
(www.travelo
city.com),
Expedia
(www.expedia.
com),
Qixo
(www.qixo.com), and
Orbitz
(www.orbitz.com) allow
consumers to comparison-shop for
airfares, access special bargains,
book flights, and reserve hotel
rooms and rental cars. See the sec-
tion “Planning Your Trip Online,”
earlier in this chapter.
• Join a travel club such as
Moment's
Notice
(
&
718/234-6295;
www.
moments-notice.com) or
Travelers
Advantage
(
&
877/259-2691;
www.travelersadvantage.com),
which supply unsold tickets at dis-
counted prices. You pay an annual
membership fee to get the club's
hot line number. Of course, you're
limited to what's available, so you
have to be flexible.
• Join
frequent-flier clubs.
It's best
to accrue miles on one program,
so you can rack up free flights and
achieve elite status faster. But it
makes sense to open as many
accounts as possible, no matter
how seldom you fly a particular
airline. It's free, and you'll get the
best choice of seats, faster response
to phone inquiries, and prompter
service if your luggage is stolen,
your flight is canceled or delayed,
or if you want to change your seat.
CHICAGO'S AIRPORTS
The one experience most Chicago visi-
tors share is
O'Hare International Air-
port
(
&
773/686-2200
). O'Hare has
long battled with Atlanta's Hartsfield
for the title of the world's busiest air-
port. The airport reigns as a major hub
for making connections worldwide.
O'Hare boasts its own police force, zip
code, medical center, cemetery, and
chapel.
O'Hare is located northwest of the
city proper, about a 25- to 30-minute
drive from downtown, depending, of
course, on the traffic. A cab ride into
the city will cost you about $30 to $35.
You can also ask the taxi-stand atten-
dant to arrange a shared ride for you,
which will cost about $15 per person.
For $1.75, you can take the El (ver-
nacular for the elevated train), which
will efficiently get you downtown in
about 40 minutes, regardless of traffic.
Trains leave every 6 to 10 minutes
during the day, and every half-hour in
the evening and overnight. O'Hare
also has outposts for every major car-
rental company (see “Getting
Around” in chapter 3 for details).
O'Hare has information booths in
all five terminals, most located on the
baggage level. The multilingual per-
sonnel, who are outfitted in red jack-
ets, can assist travelers with everything
from arranging ground transportation
to getting information about local
hotels. The booths also offer a plethora
of useful tourism brochures. The
booths, labeled “Airport Information,”
are open daily from 9am to 8pm.
On the opposite end of the city, the
southwest side, is Chicago's other
major airport,
Midway
(
&
773/838-
0600
). A new terminal has eased con-
siderable crowding problems and
expanded the selection of restaurants
O'Hare, Oh My
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport handles more passengers and air-
craft operations than any other airport in the world. Approximately
200,000 travelers pass through O'Hare each day, generating about
500,000 jobs for the region. O'Hare is completely self-supporting, requir-
ing no local taxpayer dollars to keep it going.
Fun Fact
