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Post by stevea21 on Oct 23, 2013 11:16:10 GMT -6
Report back on the Priceline name-your-price dealie: This worked well, though it wasn't the final price for me.
What I found with Alamo as my designated rental car provider, is that, no matter what size car I selected through Priceline, Alamo made one model available for any bookings through Priceline - a clown car with no trunk. They then offered an upgrade for $7/day additional which enabled me to pick any car in their lot. I didn't see a point in renting a car and not being able to fit passengers comfortably so I went for the upgrade and had a really nice car for the weekend that easily held 4 of us. So pick the cheapest option through Priceline and expect to do the upgrade is my advice.
The other caveat with Priceline is that no rental car agencies recognize the legitimacy of Priceline's rental car insurance. Alamo told me, "If anything happens, we'll go after YOUR insurance and your insurance company can try to get money back from Priceline's 3rd-party insurance company." So my advice, if you're inclined to get rental car insurance, is to skip Priceline's insurance and get it direct from the rental car agency that you get your car from - it's very close to the same price anyway.
This thing continues to allow great deals. I recommended it to my sister, who wanted to rent a car for this coming weekend and she bid $10/day and got a booking for that price.
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Post by dantastic on Oct 23, 2013 18:22:29 GMT -6
A few bits of information for people looking to go to a SHIMMER taping for the first time:
- Taxi's from O'Hare to the Rodeway are about $35, and take about 25mins.
- There's a train station (Brookfield) about 5-10mins from the Rodeway. Turn right out of the Rodeway, head up the road, turn right on Forest and it's at the end of the road. A train from there to Berwyn is about $3 one way, and takes about 10mins.
- Trains are irregular as hell, coming once an hour, and sometimes even once every two hours - for instance, 11.06, 13.06 & 15.06 being three consecutive trains.
- The nearest station to the Eagles Club is LaVergne, but no trains seem to ever stop there so get off at Berwyn, cross the tracks and head right (if I remember correctly) down Stanley until you get to Ridgeway. It's about 5mins walk, and you'll know when you're there as you'll see LaVergne station! Turn left on Ridgeway and head down the road until you get to 26th, turn right and the Eagles Club is on the left. It should be pretty easy to spot, due to the massive neon sign. In all the walk from Berwyn station to the Eagles Club probably takes about 20mins.
- Brookfield Zoo is about 5mins drive away, or one stop on the train. It's $15 for entry plus extra for certain special attractions.
Hopefully that's all accurate (correct me if it isn't) and fingers crossed some of that information will prove to be useful to someone, although it's more likely that it'll get lost in the thread before anyone needs it.
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Post by Woo on Oct 23, 2013 18:35:52 GMT -6
Not the quickest way but by far the cheapest are to get trains or buses to O'Hare. On the way back I got a train from Brookfield to Chicago Union Station and then a train 3 minutes walk south of Union Station to O'Hare for $6! Or you can get a train from Brookfield to Aurora, get of one stop later and get a bus all the way to the airport.
I know I'm going to avoid using the taxis next time. It's x6 as much money and the roads are insanely dangerous!
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Post by dantastic on Oct 23, 2013 19:43:00 GMT -6
Hmm, maybe next time I'll have to take a train to & from the airport. Sounds like I wasted a lot of money, although considering I left to get my return flight at 6:30am I doubt there'd have been a train when I needed it that time.
No idea what you're on about when it comes to taxis though, they were great. Our experience with them on Friday was nothing but positive. We definitely didn't waste an hour trying to find one that knew where Cicero station was, and the one we eventually flagged down totally knew where the Rodeway was and certainly didn't drive most of the journey on his phone while almost veering into the barrier...
Maybe.
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Post by JessAndreia on Oct 23, 2013 20:00:13 GMT -6
If you can afford spending a bit more money or find people to share taxis with, I advise against taking the train from the Rodeway Inn to the shows for the reason dantastic mentioned -they're very irregular. For all you know, you'll end up missing a bit of the show or end up trying to find a new way to get to the Eagles club once you realise the train will be late or not coming at all. I learned that when I went to the 45-48 tapings and flew there instead of driving. Although it being St. Patrick's weekend probably didn't help.
I didn't think the roads were dangerous. That was my first time driving there and I was at ease while doing so. I found the drivers to be fairly polite, allowing you in front of them if you had to change lanes.
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Post by stevea21 on Oct 23, 2013 21:59:14 GMT -6
I was amazed at how polite drivers were in that area. When I got back home, it took me 5 minutes plus to pull out of the freaking airport parking lot. I finally had to barge out into traffic, sticking my middle finger out while listening to curses and horns blaring. Ahh, home.
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Post by Woo on Oct 24, 2013 5:12:17 GMT -6
Lol. When I said dangerous I mainly meant the roads to the after party that say "748 people died on this road this year". A taxi driver nearly crashed us into the side of the freeway at one point too!
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Post by Sir Dave of Danger on Oct 24, 2013 6:24:47 GMT -6
I split a taxi on the way back between myself and 2 other people to Midway which wasn't too bad
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Post by dantastic on Oct 24, 2013 9:20:58 GMT -6
Lol. When I said dangerous I mainly meant the roads to the after party that say "748 people died on this road this year". A taxi driver nearly crashed us into the side of the freeway at one point too! 799. Nearly 802 after that taxi ride! |
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Post by Goddess of Cats on Oct 24, 2013 10:23:40 GMT -6
51 people dying over the weekend wouldn't surprise me at all.
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Post by spiffie on Oct 24, 2013 11:12:10 GMT -6
Lol. When I said dangerous I mainly meant the roads to the after party that say "748 people died on this road this year". A taxi driver nearly crashed us into the side of the freeway at one point too! Hey, that means all roads in the state of Illinois! Also the biggest danger is your car falling into a pothole and ending up somewhere in the earth's mantle. |
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Post by stevea21 on Oct 24, 2013 12:00:58 GMT -6
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Post by Woo on Oct 24, 2013 12:40:50 GMT -6
That golfing story is crazy! Lucky guy to survive!
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Post by dantastic on Oct 24, 2013 15:40:34 GMT -6
Lol. When I said dangerous I mainly meant the roads to the after party that say "748 people died on this road this year". A taxi driver nearly crashed us into the side of the freeway at one point too! Also the biggest danger is your car falling into a pothole and ending up somewhere in the earth's mantle. Because that's fine then? I think I prefer the English system of not giving you any indication at all how many people have died in the general vicinity of where you're currently driving to the American way of telling you outright that loads of people have died on roads similar to those you're currently on, or indeed on the very road your car is hanging out with a bunch of dented cars on as you read the aforementioned sign. In short, I'd rather be blissfully ignorant than mentally writing my will every time I got in a car. |
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Post by G-Reg on Oct 24, 2013 21:44:47 GMT -6
This doesn't seem like an English vs. American thing. It just looks like something Chicago started a couple years ago.
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