Anyone else stuck at ohare today...

[Sigmapolis]

Does Southwest offer any service into or out of DSM that's not through Chicago Midway?

DSM --> MDW early morning
DSM --> LAS early afternoon
DSM --> MDW late afternoon/evening

Last I knew. Yes, I do this a lot.

 

[Rabbuk]

Had a 14 hour layover there around christmas time one year. I was 19 and bymyself and seriously was borderline crazy by the time I boarded.

 

[Cycsk]

I LOVE O'Hare!! I used to fly out of there every week for over 5 years. For the most part I was flying from DSM->ORD and ORD->DSM, so my flights were generally on time.

I have that place MEMORIZED and O'Hare has the BEST airport food. If you are in the United terminal B Check out Garrett's popcorn by B8 or Rick Bayless' restaurant by B21 Tortas Frontera (Frontera grill is the best restaurant in Chicago and the airport version is amazing).

I wouldn't say that I "love" it, but I don't think O'Hare is that bad. I fly through it 30-40 times per year and generally don't have much problem. The worst part is trying to make connections between the B-20 gates and F-12 gates. The shuttle from F-2 to C-9 has been a great discovery.

Oh, and don't miss the Billy Goat Tavern stall in the food commons across from C-19, I think it is. It is only a food stall, but a great breakfast. And they people are pretty much like the Billy Goat Tavern folks at the real place downtown.

 

[Chipper]

Does Garrett's popcorn not make up for it?

I've never had a problem in the ORD. My wife always does. Just last week had to get put up overnight after BWI flight was cancelled.

 

[Wesley]

Airfare between eastern Iowa and the east coast has changed considerably in the past few years. I used to be able to book everything from Moline to DCA on the 'cheap' through Detroit on Delta. Fewer delays and while the terminals are large, they are easier to navigate than O'Hare if in a hurry to catch a connecting flight. As of late however, Cedar Rapids via O'hare on United has been 15-25% cheaper. Of course on days like today when the delays are mostly weather related, not much difference, but if you're close on a connecting flight, I'd take DTW over ORD any day!

Realize DSM is probably a different animal entirely, the few times I flew from DCA to DSM was on Midwest Airlines. Granted, this was 5+ years ago. Since Frontier took over, hard to say how bad things have gotten, but they had connecting flights in Milwaukee which was a walk in the park.

Has Southwest not really infiltrated the Des Moines market as much as everyone had hoped they would?

As they lost their fuel price leverage, SW flights on their older planes have gone up. Noe the dink planes are used to fly people to the hubs. O'Hare is the pits. NY airport s are no panacea. I use Detroit, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and SLC to avoid the other airports. Winter influences my decisions. Atlanta can be slow. DFW is neutral. Now that we basically have Delta, American and United as the Big Three, they do not seem as excited to fly people.

 

[Cycsk]

Make that four hours. The plane is here, but they're holding it for 25 (25!!!) transfers from Houston.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

If you were one of the 25, would you mind staying in Chicago overnight?

Hey, maybe we have some recruits that need to make the connection!

Having been on delayed flights, I really appreciate it when they hold a plane . . . though maybe not for 4 hours. If it is half the people, I prefer them holding a plane that isn't making connections rather than strand half the people who were ticketed to be on the plane. I've been on both ends plenty of times.

You need to leverage the moment and get some of the 25 to buy drinks for the ride to DSM.

 

[cyinne]

The delay is from a plane coming in from LAS and ALB, but I suppose they can have a mixer with Phoenix and any problems there, too. The *real* problem now (again, looking at my plane, it's just not being loaded) is they somehow rerouted a ton of people through BWI to CLT from HOU, so we have to wait for that plane, which is still over Tennessee... cripes...

I actually give BWI high marks. Plenty of parking, nice size, easy layout, great food, and the $6 commuter trains in/out of Union Station and the red line run every twenty minutes at peak and every hour the rest of the day if you would rather avoid driving or renting a car out here. The flight frequency to just about anywhere, no transfers, is nice, too, though you're "stuck" on Southwest given this is practically their private airport at this point. It's typically cheaper than DCA, too, if you want to do DSM/MDW/BWI and give up and hour to take the MARC shuttle train into the city and save $100's (potentially, not always, but sometimes) over DCA.

IAD is similar in distance but not nearly as convenient in the ways above, too, unless you're really big into United or something. I think a DSM/IAD might exist.

Let's not even talk about DSM/DCA on US Scareways. Those planes are sticky and that route can't be cheap.

BWI is great! I lived in Annapolis for 2 years and BWI was my airport of choice. Parking is easy in and out, clean, busy but not too busy security lines, and decent food options. Best part of BWI is if you are picking someone up it has the cell phone lot 10 seconds away from arrival gates.

DCA is also alright and IAD is just an old dump of an airport for the DC area.

Also I have never had a bad experience with ORD. Well, except for that one time right after Christmas that I was flying back to BWI and I got food poisoning from a sketchy sandwich at a Chili's food kiosk at ORD and thought I was going to die once I got to Baltimore!

 

[Farnsworth]

O'Hare and Philly hands down the worst airports in the country. But 3 hours isn't that bad. I've been stuck 8-9 hours plenty of times. It's all about expectations. I go in expecting no less than a 2 hour delay, and if I leave on time, gravy.

I hate O'Hare as well, never been to Philly. But my most hated airport is Denver. I've only been there 3 times, 2 of which left me high and dry overnight. I won't book trips through there anymore, rather go through Dallas or Phoenix.

 

[Farnsworth]

Does Garrett's popcorn not make up for it?

I've never had a problem in the ORD. My wife always does. Just last week had to get put up overnight after BWI flight was cancelled.

Oh god, I ate bags and bags of Garett's last time I was in Chicago.

 

[cyrocksmypants]

I've never left Ohare on time. I now drink whenever I travel through there. It makes the disappointment more tolerable. **** that place.

This right here? This is someone that's truly travelled through O'Hare a few times. The next time a flight leaves there on time will probably be the first time.

 

[TOFB4ISU]

I have had decent luck through ORD, LGA (Laguardia) is my airport from hell.

 

[CyFan61]

Now that we basically have Delta, American and United as the Big Three, they do not seem as excited to fly people.

Southwest is in that group based on passengers carried, but you can't get them from minor airports. More competition is always better, but with how thin the margins are it could be worse than four viable options from most large airports. Here is the number of passengers per airline in 2013:

American: 193.7 mil
Delta: 164.6 mil
United: 139.2 mil
Southwest: 133.2 mil

The American number includes US Airways flights post-merger; without those American would rank below Southwest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_largest_airlines

 

[roundball]

Southwest is in that group based on passengers carried, but you can't get them from minor airports. More competition is always better, but with how thin the margins are it could be worse than four viable options from most large airports. Here is the number of passengers per airline in 2013:

American: 193.7 mil
Delta: 164.6 mil
United: 139.2 mil
Southwest: 133.2 mil

The American number includes US Airways flights post-merger; without those American would rank below Southwest.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_largest_airlines

And that number will continue to grow...there are still quite a few airports that aren't served or are under-served by Southwest.

I also wonder if those numbers include the smaller regional airlines that are affiliated with the major airlines, like American Eagle and Delta Connect...I don't think Southwest has one.

 

[mramseyISU]

I wouldn't say that I "love" it, but I don't think O'Hare is that bad. I fly through it 30-40 times per year and generally don't have much problem. The worst part is trying to make connections between the B-20 gates and F-12 gates. The shuttle from F-2 to C-9 has been a great discovery.

Oh, and don't miss the Billy Goat Tavern stall in the food commons across from C-19, I think it is. It is only a food stall, but a great breakfast. And they people are pretty much like the Billy Goat Tavern folks at the real place downtown.

I'm with you on the Billy Goat. I try to get out of Cedar Rapids as early as possible so I have time to grab breakfast there.

 

[erikbj]

I have not gone through Ohare in years, i was stuck there over night 3 times in a row missing connection flights. I am lucky that i don't have to travel much lately, but i have been flying Frontier from CR to DEN and it has been affordable and nice. If I am not going west, American through Dallas has been a good connection for me.

 

[mj4cy]

Seems to me the definition of the worst airport usually depends on where your worst experiences are....and where you've had them multiple times. For me, it was hands down JFK.

 

[cyinne]

Recently went through MSP in the early morning and there were carts full of sleeping mats that looked like they had out for the night before and had not had time to put them away yet. Didn't look like something that would be very comfortable at all.

 

[ruxCYtable]

Coincidentally, I just read an article titled "America's Worst Airports" which named the 15 worst airports in America. Ohare was not even mentioned.

PS: But Des Moines was!

 

[GTO]

Coincidentally, I just read an article titled "America's Worst Airports" which named the 15 worst airports in America. Ohare was not even mentioned.

PS: But Des Moines was!

Link or it did not happen!

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

I've spent the night in Newark and Des Moines and I have had some pretty long layovers in OHare. I don't fly much lately but in recent history flying back from the ISU vs. UCONN game sucked.
I got to the airport and they told me that Ohare was a mess so they stuck me on an AA flight that didn't leave until 5pm.
I watched my original flight leave on time several hours earlier.
When they finally opened my new flight so I could get a seat the attendant remarked how lucky I was to get on the flight. I told her I wasn't sure why because I watched my originally booked flight leave and she insisted that I didn't. She then saw that I had been transferred from another airline and instantly got snotty with me and told me she didn't have to be nice to me because I hadn't originally booked with them.
So then I flew into DFW (from Hartford on route to Omaha) and there were major storms there. I think we finally got out of DFW at about 1am. I had texted my boss earlier letting her know I wasn't planning on showing up on Monday.

The only good part was flying into DFW at night over a major thunderstorm. Watching the lightning below us from the plane was pretty cool.