O’Hare vs. Halfway: Which airport ought to I fly into?

Guests to Chicago have two airports to select from: O’Hare Worldwide Airport (ORD), a sprawling advanced in Chicago’s northwest nook, or Halfway Worldwide Airport (MDW), which gives extra handy entry to the town however with fewer flights.

Totally different airways usually concentrate on completely different airports; for instance, Southwest Airways flyers have one of the best choice out of Halfway, whereas these flying American Airways, United Airways or internationally will probably find yourself at O’Hare. However the two are roughly 30 miles aside — so it is vital to plan strategically on your wants.

This information examines the professionals and cons of every airport.

Distance to downtown and transportation choices

Chicago stretches north, south, and west, roughly partitioned into thirds by branches of the Chicago River. O’Hare is within the far northwest of the town, whereas Halfway sits deep within the Southwest Facet.

The Loop is Chicago’s central downtown enterprise district. Utilizing the Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park, also called “the Bean,” as our reference level, we measured the gap from every airport. The Bean is 2 blocks south of the river and inside strolling distance of Navy Pier, Museum Campus and the Magnificent Mile purchasing district.

This is how the 2 airports stack up:

Since O’Hare has a number of terminals, it’d take 5 to 10 minutes to get out and in of the airport space. No matter timing, you are prone to encounter rush hour visitors en path to O’Hare all through most mornings and evenings. Subsequently, I might plan for 45 minutes to an hour to get downtown from O’Hare. Cabs cost a flat fee to go downtown — round $40 — whereas ride-hailing companies can price wherever between $35 and $60.

The most cost effective possibility is taking the Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line rail, obtainable from Terminals 1, 2 or 3 or through a free airport shuttle from Terminal 5. Journey time is about 50 minutes to an hour, relying on the time of day. Nevertheless, when you’ve got a variety of checked baggage, a cab could also be advisable, because the trains do not need baggage racks and a number of the stations are solely accessible through stairs.

Halfway, alternatively, is roughly half-hour from The Loop and customarily much less vulnerable to visitors delays than O’Hare — however I might nonetheless anticipate to come across some visitors. That is very true for those who’re touring on a Sunday when the Chicago Bears are enjoying at Soldier Area. Interstate 55 runs previous the sphere en path to the airport and can get backed up. You may as well take the Orange Line to downtown or take into account an Uber or Lyft for about $30 or a cab for $35 to $40.

Winner: No matter how you propose on touring to the town from the airport, Halfway comes out forward — much less visitors, shorter drives, cheaper Ubers and fewer time spent on the prepare for those who’re headed downtown. Vacationers to different Chicago neighborhoods or the suburbs could really feel in another way, although. For instance, these headed to northwest neighborhoods would possibly discover O’Hare extra handy — even when the visitors provides an undesirable headache when attending to or from the airport.

Airways and flight choices

On the subject of airways, O’Hare and Halfway couldn’t be extra completely different. Based on OAG’s 2024 annual report of the world’s busiest airports, O’Hare was the Tenth-busiest airport in 2024. Per knowledge sourced by analytics agency Cirium, 735,881 planes departed from ORD in 2024.

O’Hare additionally stands out amongst U.S. airports as a serious hub for 2 completely different airways, United and American. Southwest Airways began flying out of O’Hare in 2021 as nicely, including to the aggressive combine.

Halfway bought 26.6 million seats throughout 166,453 departures in 2024, per Cirium. Southwest stays the dominant service at Halfway with 23.5 million seats and practically 150,000 departures in 2024, adopted by Frontier (1.4 million seats and seven,785 departures), Volaris (689,694 seats and three,775 departures), Delta Air Traces (642,784 seats and seven,054 departures) and Porter (131,742 seats and 1,689 departures).

Of the practically 94 million seats bought out of O’Hare in 2024, United served 44 million throughout greater than 352,000 departures, adopted by American (28.1 million seats and 255,061 departures), Spirit (3.6 million seats and 17,816 departures), Delta (3.5 million seats and 27,476 departures) and Southwest (2.2 million seats and 13,687 departures). United is the clear winner amongst U.S. carriers that fly internationally.

On the subject of worldwide flights, ORD has a number of notable carriers working from the airport to locations world wide, together with:

• Aeromexico
• Aer Lingus
• Air Canada
• Air France
• Air India
• Air New Zealand
• Alaska Airways
• ANA
• Avianca Airways
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Emirates
• Etihad Airways
• Finnair
• ITA Airways
• Iberia
• Icelandair
• Japan Airways
• JetBlue
• KLM
• LOT Polish Airways
• Lufthansa
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Jordanian Airways
• Swiss
• Scandinavian Airways
• TAP Air Portugal
• Turkish Airways

Irrespective of the place on the planet you are heading, there is a good probability you may fly instantly from O’Hare.

Halfway, alternatively, is a key a part of Southwest’s community, which operates an awesome majority of the flights out of the airport. Delta Air Traces — which has a comparatively small presence at O’Hare — is one other of the seven airways to function from Halfway.

Winner: For AvGeeks and street warriors, there’s one thing particular about O’Hare. American and United have expansive home route networks and there aren’t many locations you may fly to from Halfway you can’t fly to from O’Hare. Add within the host of worldwide carriers, and O’Hare probably wins for a lot of. Nevertheless, as a neighborhood, I a lot favor Halfway for the shorter commute. With fewer individuals, there appear to be fewer issues, and this creates a neater, extra nice airport expertise general.

Airport facilities and perks

For my part, neither airport is a spot I really like spending extra time than I’ve to, however others could disagree.

The sprawl of runways and terminals at O’Hare typically results in lengthy taxi occasions and random delays. Plus, it lacks a lot of the high-end purchasing you will discover at newer and worldwide airports. Nonetheless, there are some nice lounges at O’Hare.

It is also value noting that the airport is at present present process a 10-year main modernization venture that may add 19 new gates to its current Concourse C. The O’Hare 21 Terminal Space Plan contains two satellite tv for pc concourses, a brand new O’Hare International Terminal (changing Terminal 2) and an underground tunnel connecting the brand new services. Development is predicted to be accomplished in 2028.

An apparent win for O’Hare is the town being residence to the United HQ, which makes the airport the apparent alternative for United flyers. In consequence, you will discover 4 United Golf equipment and the nation’s first revamped Polaris Lounge. In 2024, I visited the entire United Golf equipment and the high-end Polaris Lounge. The 4 United Golf equipment are comparatively related, various minimally in measurement, design and newness. The newest membership, which opened in 2023, boasts loads of pure mild and area for vacationers in Terminal 1.

The Polaris Lounge is opulent, with personal shaded daybed leases atop 145-degree heated Saks Fifth Avenue linens, showers and heat towels upon checking in. Plus, it is the one Polaris within the nation with a chandelier, the place each ball represents a metropolis road in Chicago. The Polaris Lounge is throughout from the duty-free retailer, accessible to worldwide clients touring in United Polaris and premium Star Alliance cabins.

United Membership℠ Infinite Card holders ($525 annual payment) obtain limitless complimentary United Membership entry for themselves and as much as two visitors per go to. In the meantime, the United℠ Explorer Card contains two single-use United Membership passes yearly. You may as well pay for a United Membership membership with both money or miles, with costs various by United Premier elite standing stage.

O’Hare additionally has three American Airways Admirals Golf equipment and one American Airways Flagship Lounge, all in Terminal 3.

In our expertise, there’s often room to take a seat down and seize a chew to eat. The food and drinks choice is primary, however you will not go hungry with a choice of chilly cuts, soups and different snacks.

These with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Govt World Elite Mastercard® (see charges and charges) obtain complimentary Admirals Membership entry, as do Concierge Key members.

The one different free approach to entry a membership is by holding an eligible premium ticket, particularly business- and first-class tickets on worldwide American- or Oneworld-operated and home flagship-ticketed flights for particular routes.

In any other case, AAdvantage members will pay for entry in varied methods, ranging in worth from $550 to $650, relying on their standing stage.

No matter the way you achieve entry to the Admirals Membership, vacationers should current a same-day American, JetBlue or different Oneworld service boarding go to take action, excluding lifetime Admirals Membership members (who’ve lifetime entry, because the title suggests).

The Flagship Lounge is a step above with fewer crowds, devoted service desks and nice views of the airport.

You will additionally discover an elevated choice of meals and drinks with buffet-style dishes specified by an enormous unfold.

O’Hare additionally has a Delta Sky Membership, one in every of our favorites within the system. This lounge has greater than 22,000 sq. ft of area, showers, nice views of the airport and Delta jets and two bars. There’s even a Chicago-style sizzling canine vendor.

Associated: Delta unveils Sky Membership and Terminal 5 gates at Chicago’s O’Hare airport

Our favourite function of this membership is that it additionally has two boarding gates! One is used for flights to its hub at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA), and the opposite is for worldwide Delta companions like Air France.

High-tier Delta SkyMiles Diamond Medallion members can redeem Selection Advantages for a Delta Sky Membership membership, whereas any Delta standing holder will pay money or redeem miles for a Delta Sky Membership membership.

Some premium bank cards present complimentary lounge entry, and there are additionally a wide range of paid choices to enter a Sky Membership, as long as you aren’t flying primary financial system.

For instance, The Platinum Card® from American Specific, The Enterprise Platinum Card® from American Specific, Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Specific Card and the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Enterprise American Specific Card all present complimentary entry for same-day Delta-operated flights or Delta-marketed WestJet flights, excluding Delta primary financial system or equal companion fares.

As of Feb. 1, 2025, Delta has capped Sky Membership visits yearly (Feb. 1 to Jan. 31) to 10 visits for Amex Platinum and Amex Enterprise Platinum and 15 visits for Delta Reserve Amex and Delta Reserve Enterprise Amex cardholders.

Lastly, there is a Swissport Lounge in Terminal 5 accessible through the Precedence Go. This lounge is skippable, in my view — we peeked in, and the lounge was fairly sad-looking..

Lastly, a lounge at Halfway

As of September, Halfway has its first lounge after 96 years of existence. The Membership MDW is in Concourse B and is open each day from 4 a.m. till 10 p.m. for all vacationers. It is a part of the Precedence Go community; non-Precedence Go members also can entry the membership for $50 each day.

The Membership MDW is actually a welcome addition after practically 100 years. I might anticipate capability points over time, although, as I discovered it very crowded on a latest go to, with few locations to take a seat.

Winner: Though most of O’Hare’s lounges are off-limits until you are flying in a premium cabin or maintain top-tier elite standing, there are not less than a range to select from. The addition of Halfway’s inaugural lounge could encourage vacationers to get to the airport sooner than they might have beforehand, nevertheless — and I think the Membership will work out its preliminary kinks in time.

Backside line

After practically three years in Chicago, I’ve a love-hate relationship with O’Hare, regardless of my rising allegiance to United. However the annoyance I really feel each time I order an Uber to or from O’Hare is unmatched, as I anticipate invariable visitors.

Since I primarily flew Southwest rising up, I’ve all the time had a smooth spot in my coronary heart for the airline and, thus, Halfway.

When you’re flying internationally or you might be loyal to United or American, you may be flying out of O’Hare. But when Southwest is an efficient possibility for home journey, the often-overlooked Halfway is value listening to.

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