<p>I'm going to Chicago for a conference with the business fraternity. Saturday night I'm going to be free. My friend has invited me to go to Northwestern to hang out and chill. The problem is that I have a morning flight the next day. I believe it's at 11:30AM CT or something like that. I have to be back at the hotel when we leave because one of the brothers bought the tickets. Is it really pushing it if I leave early in the morning to get back to the hotel, on the el? </p>
<p>My hotel is near Millenium Park, so it's right downtown. Also, we're flying out of Midway. Advice is appreciated.</p>
<p>if you're going to be near millenium park i'd probably take the metra... takes 28 minutes to get from davis to ogilvie, and a cab from ogilvie would not take long at all</p>
<p>At what time do you need to be back at the hotel? Riding the El, I typically try to give myself 1 hour to get downtown and 2 hours to get to any of the airports. The estimates are a bit on the conservative side, but then again, I've never missed a flight or an appointment. You will find this website of interest: Plan</a> Your Trip With the RTA!</p>
<p>--Shamazing
Shamazing</a>?! -- College Student's Blog</p>
<p>hmm, interesting. The problem is that I don't know what time I'd have to get back to the hotel mostly because we're going to see how long it takes to get from Midway to the hotel.</p>
<p>Midway is about a half hour from downtown, more or less... and that is the issue. It can be just a hop, skip and jump - get on the Stevenson, left on Cicero, a couple miles to the airport.... or it can be agony. It will likely be a breeze on Sunday morning, but then you have the issue of security and the long walk now that Midway has turned into a major airport. (I first flew in/out of Midway when it was the size of my elementary school and you parked about 50 feet from the entry doors.) Now, there are long walks and long lines. </p>
<p>I usually take a cab, but I suspect public transportation is more predictable (no car accidents.)</p>
<p>@ Sachmoney</p>
<p>I definitely recommend the CTA over the Metra. If you are going to visit Northwestern on the weekends, the Metra runs every hour. (More people use the Metra during rush hour times during the week). Just take the CTA Red or Orange Line and transfer to the Purple Line in Evanston. The Metra may work, but the CTA may be more reliable if you have a tight deadline</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback guys, but at this point I think I'm going to play it safe and stay at the hotel. I will get to see my friend for dinner, but I have other friends at Northwestern that I will not get to see, which absolutely sucks.</p>
<p>It's an hour and a half away and I only have a few hours. Plus, all my friends don't know each other. That just makes it awkward. Plus, I'm sharing a hotel room with people...I'm gonna see at least one of my friends.</p>