Airports Close to Lollapalooza

Anyone who’s traveling to Lollapalooza from far enough away to require a flight before you make your way to Grant Park in Chicago will undoubtedly begin a search for airfare by looking at flights into Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. But there are several airports relatively close to Chicago that you could include them in your airfare search and then make your way into Chicago’s city center from there.

The obvious reason to hunt for flights into multiple airports whenever you travel is to increase your options with things like travel schedules as well as airlines that may be offering lower fares. But in particular when you’re traveling at a time when flights are likely to be more expensive anyway, including several airports in your search is even more important. Sometimes you’ll find that one airport is more popular with budget airlines, or that another airport routinely offers cheaper fares because the airport’s leasing fees are lower. Without knowing all the airports in the Chicago area, it’s just a good idea to look at flights into all of them to make sure you don’t miss out on a particularly great deal.

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O’Hare International Airport

Chicago’s biggest airport is also one of the biggest and busiest airports in the entire country. You might think that finding cheap flights to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) would be simple because of the sheer number of flights in and out each day – and sometimes it works out that way. But volume doesn’t always mean lower fares.

When looking for cheap flights into O’Hare, airlines you might want to check out are United and American, as the former has its biggest hub at O’Hare and the latter has its second-largest hub there. O’Hare is about 17 miles from Chicago’s downtown, but the city center is easily reached via public transportation (including the CTA train).

Midway International Airport

Chicago’s second airport is actually closer to downtown than O’Hare, and quite popular with both residents of Chicago and budget airlines – and it’s the second fact that makes finding cheap flights to Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) easier at times than finding cheap fares to O’Hare.

Midway Airport is about 8 miles from Chicago’s downtown and, like O’Hare, it’s easy to get into the city via public transportation. But what makes Midway particularly appealing from a budget travel standpoint is that it’s more popular with discount airlines than O’Hare is. Both Southwest and AirTran use Midway as a focus city airport, so be sure to check those two airlines when you’re looking for cheap fares.

General Mitchell International Airport

Not all Chicago-area airports are in Chicago – and not all of them are even in Illinois. But if you can find cheap flights to Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport (MKE) you might not care what state you’re in.

Mitchell Airport is sometimes referred to as “Chicago’s third airport,” even though it’s more than 80 miles away from downtown Chicago. You might think that’s a little far away to make it easy to get to Lollapalooza, but because the airport itself is connected to central Chicago by Amtrak you can still get into the city easily from Milwaukee’s airport – and without needing to rent a car. Mitchell is a smaller airport, so there aren’t as many flights in and out, but it’s the main hub for regional carrier Midwest Airlines, so check that airline for sure.

Chicago Rockford International Airport

Although Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD) is technically located closer to Chicago’s city center than Milwaukee’s Mitchell Airport, Mitchell tends to be a better option for most people traveling to the region because it offers better public transportation connections to central Chicago than Rockford airport does. Still, depending on where you’re flying from, it could be worth checking.

Rockford airport is four miles from the city of Rockford, and just under 70 miles from the city of Chicago. The main budget airline that flies regularly in and out of Rockford is Allegiant Air, so if that’s an airline that offers good deals from your departure airport then it could be worth considering, but make sure you’ve got your ground transportation sorted before you book your tickets.

photo by JOE MARINARO