I'm planning on flying into Chicago for 2 days before driving down to the Indy 500 and will be staying at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Downtown (on E. Ontario). I'll be doing a lot of walking around and riding mass transit, and since parking at the hotel is a whopping $35 a day I'm wondering if I need a car at all. As I see it I have 2 options:

1. Rent a car at O'Hare on arrival (better rates than renting downtown), barely use the car while in Chicago and eat the $70 for 2 days parking at the hotel.

2. Take mass transit from the airport to the hotel and then back to the airport 2 days later, rent the car and be on my way.

I'll save 2 days car rental and the $70 parking fee, but will going back and forth on the train to the airport (with luggage) be a real pain in the neck?

What do you think? Thanks.

I think a cab from the airport to your hotel would run max $40 each way. That’s $80 total, almost the cost of parking for the two days.

Taking the el to/from the airport with luggage is no big deal. It's actually quite convenient, if a little time-consuming.

It depends on how much luggage you have, but I've done it in other cities and had no trouble. Unless you're traveling on the El during rush hour, you should be fine with a small amount of luggage.

In considering costs, also consider that you'll have 2 days of car rental in addition to 2 days of parking. That can really add up!

Have you looked into taking the Metra to a southern stop and renting a car from there? Here's a map for Metra:

http://metrarail.com/System_map/index.html

It will save you time, since you're heading south to Indy anyway.

I've been living in Chicago for eight years without a car. I think you'll be okay for two days. Take the "L" to the loop downtown. Convenient and cheap. It will cost you a $1.80. Then from there it will only cost you a few dollars by cab to your hotel.

Taking the El downtown is very cheap and can be faster than a cab during rush hours. You won't need the car at all in Chicago. Look into Amtrak from Chicago-Indianapolis - at $2 a gallon, driving is no longer all that cheap.

Since we don't have much luggage (1 bag per person), the more I think about this it would be downright silly to pay 2 extra days AND $35 a day to park a car I'll barely use. Thanks for helping me see the light.

No...you don't need a car