What airport are you flying into?

[momof3]

I know there have been discussions on this but my husband and I are still unsure which airport  would be the easiest one to fly into, not necessarily the closest.  And anyone that has been and just used taxi's was the cost high?  We are trying to decide if we should just rent a car or not.  Any help would be appreciate on helping us make our plans would be greatly appreciated:)  We are 10 days away from her going to bootcamp, and all of a sudden it is hitting me so hard that I have gone in to planning mode on when we get to see her again. Thanks moms!!

[Dad of Sailor]

Everyone says that MKE (Milwaukee) is the easiest due to less traffic, smaller airport, cheaper rental cars, etc. Southwest Airlines also flies into MKE (along with Midway) and they don't have change fees or checked baggage fees in case something changes after you book your flight.

We are flying into Milwaukee on Southwest.

[MomSeanEM2]

I am glad I saw this post. My son is stationed in the west and will be going back to GL for elevator school. I was looking at flights into Chicago and they were very expensive. I would love to go out and visit him on a weekend while he is going to school. I have to check it out and see if I could get a better deal going through Milwaukee. Didn't even cross my mind doing this. :) Thanks

[momof3]

I know the power of moms,lol!!  I knew this would be the sight to answer these kinds of questions.  Thanks LBTRS:)

[momof3]

Thanks.  I appreciate the help:)  I will look into there.

[Dad of Sailor]

O'hare is the closest (30-40 min), Milwaukee is the next closest (50 min) and Midway the furthest (75-90 min). I would rent a car as the taxi's can cost $100+ each way to the airport. I rented a full size car with Budget in the Milwaukee for $65 for the entire weekend ($85 after taxes and airport fees). Cheaper to rent a car then taxi's.

I know mom's have power but I'm a dad and we have some skills also. :)

[momof3]

LOL!!  You are right dads are very important too:) And I know you miss your sons and daughters as much as us moms:)  Thanks for the information.

[rnterry 04/817 PIR 7/27 alumni]

Hi taylordays,

  My Son graduated on 7/27/12 from basic.  Let me share what we did and it worked great for us.  We flew into Midway, only because it was the least expensive and that is where Southwest - two free bags to check! - flies into.  Otherwise you have O'Hare and then of course Milwaukee.  One of the Mom's in our group flew into there and said she was maybe 30 mins. away from Great Lakes.

 We rented a car and got a pretty good deal, tons of taxes though, it is Chicago after all.  If you rent a car get the prepaid toll pass thing.  If you are not use to toll roads and we weren't, you can fly right through a toll area and not realize it, each missed toll is $100 and the renta car place will just charge you credit card - after you get home.  Yikes!  Another Mom suggested we get the box and it was the best investment. 

  Hotel - we were soooooooo happy at the Courtyard Marriott - of course we are from Seattle and they not only serve Starbucks in the lobby they have a Starbucks right out the front door.  Now I ask you?  Everyone at this hotel was beyond helpful and it comes from their GM, she sets a standard that every company should strive for.  They have a Bistro that you can get wine and snacks in the evening.  Breakfast in the morning - the GM came in early to make sure we all got served and out the door before Graduation. Rooms were comfortable and clean and they had packages of tissues for the Mom's for grad. 

  A group of us Mom's who had been corresponding on N4M's site all met at Sarge's Meet and Greet - a tremendous man. He has food, cash bar, music and a briefing and seriously you can tell he was in the military for over 20 years, we felt like we were stormig the base the next day.  But we had all the info to make sure things ran smooothly.  Sarge also runs a shuttle service so if you decide to forgo the renta car you can arrange to have him pick you up at the airport and drive you around for the weekend.  There are also tons of taxi's outside everywhere.  The hotel arranged our shuttle on graduation day.  You can still go into Chicago without a car and I personally would suggest that.  The commuter train is right next to the base and you can take a nice relaxing 1 hour train ride through all the beautiful little towns and be in downtown Chicago.  Just watch your time.  We went on the architecture boat ride and it was wonderful.  You see downtown from the water and the info is really interesting.  The new Sailors are exhausted and so everywhere we went - car, train, boat my Son was falling asleep.  I noticed on the train all the other young men and women were also sleeping when they could.  So travelling the way we did I feel facilitate alot of needed down time.  I was just happy to sit and stare at  him. 

 Nay Pier was fun to see for a second but an absolute zoo so we took a taxt to Gino's for Chicago style pizza.  They moved us to the head of the line when they saw the sailor uniform.  Pizza takes an hour to bake so give yourself plenty of time.  Chicago and Great Lakes LOVES it's Sailors and treat them like kings.  People coming up and shaking their hands, thanking them for service.  Moving you to the front of the line.  Well, well deserved given what they have just accomplished.  From Gino's we took another cab and with minutes we were at the train in plenty of time and settled in for another nice nap for my Son. 

 If you are going to stay around Great Lakes a renta car may be a better option, it is very spread out and you need to drive everywhere.  Lot's to do though.  We were very lucky and got two days with our Son so we stayed around town graduation day and then went into Chicago Sat. after he had some rest.  Took my Son's to Wildberry's for Breakfast it was great. There is one near the Courtyard and also I understand one in Chicago.  My Son ate and ate and ate. And then ate some more.  He is in an 800 division and their RDC wouldn't let them eat dessert for 7 weeks so they really wanted desserts.

You are in for such a treat.  Going to this graduation is like nothing you will ever experience.  The pride, the joy, the closeness with all these strangers who suddenly are not strangers.  Have a wonderful time but get busy booking and ask for Navy rates.  The good hotels go quickly. 

Sorry this was so wordy.  I was just thinking this past week how I wish I could go and do the graduation all over again, not the waiting in the beginning, that was torture as you know but sure that is why grad was so wonderful. 

Stay tuned into this site. From the boot camp site all the rescue swimmer Mom's joined that group and there is a Wash/Oregon site and a group of us are meeting on the 8th for a lunch.  One of the 800 Mom's started an email site so we could speak about our Son's by name and give more details that we have to be so concerned about on the N4M's site.

Have a great time and let us know how it went.

 

[momof3]

Thank you so much for your time to help me figure out what we are in for:)  It was not to wordy,lol, I am like obsessed for every bit of information I can find!!   And I appreciate it so much.   And who would have thought to schedule over an hour for a pizza?  This will be our whole family's first time to Chicago so we are looking forward to this new adventure together:)  Thanks again for all your help.  Congratulations to you and your son on this great adventure.  

[MoCityMom]

My recruit just left for BC yesterday and I am hungry for information so your post was VERY helpful and informative.  Thanks for taking the time to write it.

[harpist mom]

We flew into O'Hare and thought it was an easy airport to navigate; however, I have heard that MKE is less expensive also. O'Hare is closer to Great Lakes than the other airports and the route to GL from O'Hare was easy to follow.

I would HIGHLY recommend renting a car for the weekend. You will be doing a lot of driving and it is convenient to have the flexibility of a rental car instead of constantly scheduling taxis. i do not recommend the Ramada in Waukegan - we stayed therer and it is old and musty. The desk clerks were not friendly or helpful.

I usually like Southwest Airlines; however they have run behind schedule the last two times I have flown them due to maintenance delays, where another plane was eventually substituted. My husband read recently that SW now contracts their airplane maintenance to a facility in San Salvador. (wonder if there is a connection? Maintenance was formerly done in Dallas)

[momof3]

Thank you for taking the time to help us out with our planning:)    Also I Really appreciate the comment about the Ramada, I am wanting to be able to let my daughter have a nice place to relax and take a nice shower,lol. I will avoid there.  Thanks again:)

[JudyD]

Taylordays, We flew into Midway because Southwest only flew into there from San Jose, CA.  It isn't the closest but we rented a car and for us it was the best decision.  We did get a shuttle to take us to the rental place.  We used the car every where but graduation.  We arranged for Old Sarge to come pick us up and take us back to our hotel after the graduation.  Best thing we did because Sarge was able to drop us off at the gate and we didn't have to go to through the HUGE line of cars waiting to get in to graduation.  If you are driving or renting a car I strongly suggest bringing tons of quarters.  There are toll booths everywhere.  I hope this helps.  Safe travels and enjoy you graduation.  Congratulations on your daughter becoming a United States Sailor.  Our daughter graduated on 6/29 and is still in Great Lakes at A school and she loves it.