airflight999

Some people in cities with bad traffic spend an hour each way going to and from their 9-5 M-F job. That's 40 hours a month. If you do that commute you'd still only be driving about half that amount.

Poser765

Yes I do commute. Have for my entire career. Admittedly I've got a pretty easy commute. Not a lot of frequency, but it's on company metal and I always get a seat. So my narrative is pretty accurate in MY case. It's a thirty minute drove to the airport, and I show up about 30 minutes prior to push.

Yes I know not all commutes are equal, and I know some don't share my views on commuting. That's the different strokes park in my original post. I would gladly sacrifice an hour or two of home time to not have to worry about having to drive myself a couple hundred miles away. That's just me, though.

And really 3 or 3.5 hours is not what I was talking about. That's right on the border of what I would consider doing. 5 or 6 hours is a no brainer to me. Not a chance. Is someone really up for a 14 hour duty day with 5 legs after driving 5 or 6 hours?

RemoveB4Flight

I agree a mindless 4 hours is actually not bad (nap, read, watch a movie).
It sucks when you land from the last flight of your trip at the same time your flight home is departing and that 4 hours turns into 8 though (depending on frequency).
Also even with the easy commute you indicate, a flight commute means there is always a chance that you won't be making it home that day.

Aviationslave

I would strongly consider driving to DTW if I were you. Driving through Chicago west to east to ORD is really tough from 0600-1000 and 1530-2000. Detroit is out in the middle of no where. I live in Chicago and Commute to Detroit. I make the drive every 4 months or so. THE absolute worst part is getting out of the city on 294. This might sound crazy but consider actually making the drive to ORD (if you haven't already) just to test the waters.


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Poser765

this is incredibly true. Like I said though, mileage varies person to person and I'm not like most commuters. I've made my piece with it the process,and the cons of driving would greatly out weigh the cons of flying.

Mjm8710

Drive! You could spend twice the time commuting on a plane/sitting at an airport trying to catch oversold flights. Plus, there's something about knowing at the end of a 4 day trip you will make it home at the time you expect and not having to worry about leaving up to chance catching flights...

I did a 3.5 hour drive temporarily for a few months before I made a base switch. I would still take that drive over the stress of commuting via plane

Farmlover

Detroit would be way easier.

BIueSideUp

Just to specify a little bit, Detroit is about 40 miles farther one-way for me. I realize that traffic could be a bit more of a concern getting into Chicago though.

TheRaven

I'd plan on driving once a week.....get a comfy crashpad to minimize the temptation to do extra round trips......as you gain seniority you might ditch the pad for cheap hotels if you need it less. I've commuted by air for the last 16 years.....every week I get done and get home 9 hrs later, wishing I was climbing into a car and driving instead.

Dunkin

Drive to DAY or CVG, much closer than DTW and you don't have to deal with ORD traffic.