Oops edit above. So as not confuse anyone, the first sentence should read “there are set taxi fares from airports - ORD and Midway - to the suburbs”
If you are coming in from ORD to Evanston, do not use a city cab. I cannot stress that enough, do not use it. They, by law, have to charge you double or something like that if you are not going to somewhere in Chicago. Call in a suburban cab. American Taxi is a popular one. The flat rate is $31 from O’Hare to Evanston. https://www.americantaxi.com/ATOnlineOrderWeb/main.htm
I would just order limo service from ORD to Evanston. The one I use costs $34. The wait for a taxi at ORD can be horrible, up to 45 minutes on a Friday night.
Oh, I would try to avoid Midway unless you find a significantly cheaper flight. My vote would be rent a car for convenience. You may be able to find an equally cheap flight into ORD and out of DTW.
OP, are you still there? Obviously lots of us in the area that have our favorite methods of transport in from the airport. In addition to @Nova10 suggestion of American Cab, after years of American, I’ve started taking 303 taxis. http://www.303taxi.com/local/evanston.html. With either one, you need to call for a pick-up after retrieving luggage. I’ve not waited more than 20 minutes in recent months, but longer waits are possible as @MaterS says. As stated, don’t take a Chicago cab either in from the airport or from Evanston to Chicago unless you want to pay the premium prices. I would not consider any form of public transport with a cello - just too much. If it was me, I would rent a car at my arrival airport and drive in to Evanston, then on to Ann Arbor.
@MaterS - which limo service do you use??? I’ve not tried Uber from ORD, maybe that’s an option.
I don’t believe you can get Uber at ORD but certainly you could take one from Evanston to anywhere.
To get to Evanston there is no contest between ORD and MDW. ORD is far closer.
Yes, one could get caught in a snowstorm. You could in upstate NY or New England too. Driving Chicago - AA still makes the most sense. It’s like driving Chicago - Indianapolis. Takes longer to fly than drive.
Midway has flights cancelled as well. It’s winter. Just plan to get everywhere the day before so you have a buffe of time.
Sorry I should have been clearer. To get from ORD to Evanston if you don’t rent a car you should reserve a taxi, limo, or car service. Do not go to the taxi stand at ORD. This is where you will have long waits and higher prices. These taxis are mainly for people going to downtown Chicago.
@Momofadult I sent you a PM with my preference.
Thanks @MaterS. I tried to respond to your message, but not sure if it worked.
Anyone remember Presidents Day weekend 2003? I’ll never forget it. DS and I drove to Maryland for two auditions that weekend…UMD and Peabody. UMD was on Saturday and Peabody on Monday…perfect, we thought.
UMD audition went off without a hitch…despite forecast of a huge snowstorm…which didn’t actually start until Saturday night. By Sunday morning, 40 inches or so of snow was on the ground in the DV/MD area. Flights cancelled, roads closed…paralyzed the city. Audition postponed. Eventually happened on Wednesday. Folks had been stranded on roads, missed flights, drove from airports where their connecting flights were cancelled. Faculty couldn’t get there…no schedules to adhere to at all…they just did the auditions as folks showed up.
My point is…audition season is in the winter. You have to have flexibility and plan for the worst. Get to the audition site the day before your audition…so you have a buffer in time. Even if the weather is OK, your musician will appreciate a little rest between things.
As others have noted…get a train ticket…rent a car…and watch the weather forecasts carefully.
Anywhere in the country can have bad weather in winter. But the poster above is right … this isn’t Siberia. People drive between Chicago and Michigan every single day of the year. There’s no reason to assume you can’t or to act all scared about it, until / unless a storm hits. I got stranded at the Philly airport for 5 days in 2010 and I got stranded in NY last year and had to take Amtrak back to Chicago because the flights were down, but I don’t have to act as though traveling to the East Coast is such a big scary deal.
I grew up in Glenview. It is a north suburb of Chicago. We would never think of going to Midway. The traffic could be quite bad heading down there. We would choose General Mitchell (Milwaukee) over Midway. MKE is an easy one hour drive with no major traffic.
Thanks for the help. We made the trip in April. Flew to Detroit, rented a car, visited UMich, drove to Evanston, and returned the car to O’Hare. The car came in handy in Ann Arbor so we did not need to take the UMich bus. In Evanston we stayed within walking distance of the campus.