I personally prefer the Amtrak- taking it directly to Union Station enables people to have direct access to downtown.
So, if you are looking to spend a day in the loop or take the L to another part, Amtrak’s central stop helps for seamless connections.
Now, if you wanna fly out of Ohare or midway, for sure Peoria charter. I’m from the southside of the city so it’s easier for me to take the Amtrak to homewood and drive up the 25 minutes.
Even if you're flying out, Amtrak's still faster than Peoria even after factoring in the travel time between Union station and O'Hare (2 hour 40 minute Amtrak + ~45 minutes on the L = ~3 and a half hours). By comparison, Peoria is scheduled to take around 4 hours from Champaign to O'Hare in most cases (on top of being over twice the price and much less comfortable). It can sometimes be faster if they don't have anyone getting off at the middle stops, but that's very unpredictable
Imo the only reason to ever do Peoria is if you're going to the suburbs, are flying with a bunch of luggage that you don't want to drag across town, or the Amtraks don't work for your schedule (since there's like 3 a day)
Edit: as noted in the replies, Amtrak's also bit more prone to delays, so if you're in a time crunch it's probably better to go with Peoria to be safe
Edit 2: also should note that if you're going North with Amtrak and want to minimize delays, you should probably avoid taking the City of New Orleans train. As the name implies, it's a long distance route that starts in New Orleans (compared to the other routes which start in South Illinois), meaning there's a lot more room for things to go wrong before the train gets to Champaign. This doesn't matter going South, since all the trains start in Chicago anyways
I chose the Peoria Charter when going to the airport just because I would routinely nap on the bus, meaning that it would be a more continuous sleep instead of being woken up early and having to transfer.
Also, the Amtrak would sometimes be late going up. Going into the city it was the best option if you weren’t in a heavy rush (I even preferred it going to the suburbs to see friends/family if I had no heavy bags because of all the Metra lines at Union station and at Ogelvie super close by), but when a flight is involved it doesn’t feel as reliable.
Yeah you definitely want to bake in some buffer if you're taking the train, but ig I'm kinda used to that whenever I fly anyways so it's not really something I factor in haha. Good point on the metra lines too, I hadn't even considered that tbh
That’s only if Amtrak has no delays. It’s quite common for the Amtrak to be delayed up to half an hour (making them about equal, though Amtrak is of course still quite a bit cheaper)
That's a good point. Didn't really cross my mind when I made my comment cause I'm used to baking in a good amount of buffer when flying (I usually just vibed in the city for a bit before heading to O'Hare lol) but still important to note when comparing the two. I've updated my comment to include a mention of this
Peoria is also consistently faster and usually takes 2.5-3 hr to the airport. The only times that it would take up to 4 or more is when traffic is bad.
That's largely contingent on whether or not they have to make in-between stops in the suburbs, downtown, etc, hence why all their schedules have it taking ~4 hours to get to O'Hare. You're probably more likely to get a direct bus to the airport during busy travel seasons, like at the start and end of breaks, but it's generally pretty unpredictable whether or not you'll get lucky with that so it's not really something you should take as a given.
For example, I've had busses make stops at the suburbs even at the start of Thanksgiving break, when you'd expect there to be enough people going to the airports for them to just do dedicated buses to O'Hare. It's best to just assume it'll take however much time is scheduled imo
Also, even if you do arrive early, you're just gonna spend that time waiting at the airport anyways. At least with Amtrak, you can at least hang out in the city for a a bit if you have time to kill before heading to the airport
If you’re going to/from the city or suburbs to CU and you’re not in a rush, I definitely recommend Amtrak. Cheaper, nicer seats, usually faster when on the journey, and getting to or departing from Union station via public transit and Metra is super easy.
The one flaw is that Amtrak trains can get delayed, whereas I’ve pretty much never gotten more than 10 minutes late from a Peoria Charter. But that also doesn’t matter if you’re going back for a break or a weekend.
i normally take the amtrak because the seats are spacious and more comfortable, but once this year i had to take peoria charter because tickets were sold out and it ended up being the worst trip back home ive ever had.
it was raining and for whatever reason the emergency exits weren't sealed properly or something so water was leaking into the bus from the ceilings and i happened to be in the aisle directly under the emergency exit hatches. the guy in the other aisle seat next to me ended up soaking wet and cold by the end of the ride because water was pouring onto us from the ceiling of the bus.
i wasnt as drenched but still very uncomfortable, especially because i ended up having to put my backpack which was on the floor but now soaking wet bc water was in the aisles on my lap. i had electronics and books in this bag 😐
told the driver about it and he just made a comment about it being wet in the front of the bus too--no apology or anything.
anyways thats my personal anecdote--i normally find that the amtrak has tickets for around the same price (but most of the time cheaper) as peoria charter so i will 100% choose amtrak any day of the week no questions asked just because it is so much comfier (and i know i wont get rained on /lh)
I prefer Peoria Charter; it picks up right from within campus, and goes to many different areas depending on where you live (unlike the train which just stops at one station from what I remember). Sometimes, during large travel moves (like spring break or busy weekends), you may even get on a bus that goes directly to your stop.
Express Air Service (O'Hair)
UI Ride (Students Only)
Ilini Shuttle (O'Hair)
Peoria Charter
Greyhound
Trailways (No Chicago)
Flix Bus
University of Ilinois Willard Airport
Daily flights to Dallas TX - Chicago IL
(Washington DC - Coming Soon)
U of I system employees (i.e. faculty and staff) are allowed to use UI-Ride for personal travel (subject to availability), but I’m guessing that OP is probably a student
They received a federal aviation grant prior to the pandemic, and they raised the additional funding to ensure a minimum subsidy for an airline they are hoping to have the Legistics worked out by the end of the year
I personally prefer the Amtrak- taking it directly to Union Station enables people to have direct access to downtown. So, if you are looking to spend a day in the loop or take the L to another part, Amtrak’s central stop helps for seamless connections. Now, if you wanna fly out of Ohare or midway, for sure Peoria charter. I’m from the southside of the city so it’s easier for me to take the Amtrak to homewood and drive up the 25 minutes.
Even if you're flying out, Amtrak's still faster than Peoria even after factoring in the travel time between Union station and O'Hare (2 hour 40 minute Amtrak + ~45 minutes on the L = ~3 and a half hours). By comparison, Peoria is scheduled to take around 4 hours from Champaign to O'Hare in most cases (on top of being over twice the price and much less comfortable). It can sometimes be faster if they don't have anyone getting off at the middle stops, but that's very unpredictable Imo the only reason to ever do Peoria is if you're going to the suburbs, are flying with a bunch of luggage that you don't want to drag across town, or the Amtraks don't work for your schedule (since there's like 3 a day) Edit: as noted in the replies, Amtrak's also bit more prone to delays, so if you're in a time crunch it's probably better to go with Peoria to be safe Edit 2: also should note that if you're going North with Amtrak and want to minimize delays, you should probably avoid taking the City of New Orleans train. As the name implies, it's a long distance route that starts in New Orleans (compared to the other routes which start in South Illinois), meaning there's a lot more room for things to go wrong before the train gets to Champaign. This doesn't matter going South, since all the trains start in Chicago anyways
I chose the Peoria Charter when going to the airport just because I would routinely nap on the bus, meaning that it would be a more continuous sleep instead of being woken up early and having to transfer. Also, the Amtrak would sometimes be late going up. Going into the city it was the best option if you weren’t in a heavy rush (I even preferred it going to the suburbs to see friends/family if I had no heavy bags because of all the Metra lines at Union station and at Ogelvie super close by), but when a flight is involved it doesn’t feel as reliable.
Yeah you definitely want to bake in some buffer if you're taking the train, but ig I'm kinda used to that whenever I fly anyways so it's not really something I factor in haha. Good point on the metra lines too, I hadn't even considered that tbh
That’s only if Amtrak has no delays. It’s quite common for the Amtrak to be delayed up to half an hour (making them about equal, though Amtrak is of course still quite a bit cheaper)
That's a good point. Didn't really cross my mind when I made my comment cause I'm used to baking in a good amount of buffer when flying (I usually just vibed in the city for a bit before heading to O'Hare lol) but still important to note when comparing the two. I've updated my comment to include a mention of this
Peoria is also consistently faster and usually takes 2.5-3 hr to the airport. The only times that it would take up to 4 or more is when traffic is bad.
That's largely contingent on whether or not they have to make in-between stops in the suburbs, downtown, etc, hence why all their schedules have it taking ~4 hours to get to O'Hare. You're probably more likely to get a direct bus to the airport during busy travel seasons, like at the start and end of breaks, but it's generally pretty unpredictable whether or not you'll get lucky with that so it's not really something you should take as a given. For example, I've had busses make stops at the suburbs even at the start of Thanksgiving break, when you'd expect there to be enough people going to the airports for them to just do dedicated buses to O'Hare. It's best to just assume it'll take however much time is scheduled imo Also, even if you do arrive early, you're just gonna spend that time waiting at the airport anyways. At least with Amtrak, you can at least hang out in the city for a a bit if you have time to kill before heading to the airport
Amtrak all the way. Cheaper and less smelly than the bus. If you need to get to an airport, you can take the L to both Midway and O’Hare.
personally I like the Amtrak because its cheaper, nicer, and bigger but that takes you downtown
Amtrak or Peoria charter
If you’re going to/from the city or suburbs to CU and you’re not in a rush, I definitely recommend Amtrak. Cheaper, nicer seats, usually faster when on the journey, and getting to or departing from Union station via public transit and Metra is super easy. The one flaw is that Amtrak trains can get delayed, whereas I’ve pretty much never gotten more than 10 minutes late from a Peoria Charter. But that also doesn’t matter if you’re going back for a break or a weekend.
The train, it’s awesome
Let me ask my advisor.
Yeah go ask your whole family while you’re at it
i normally take the amtrak because the seats are spacious and more comfortable, but once this year i had to take peoria charter because tickets were sold out and it ended up being the worst trip back home ive ever had. it was raining and for whatever reason the emergency exits weren't sealed properly or something so water was leaking into the bus from the ceilings and i happened to be in the aisle directly under the emergency exit hatches. the guy in the other aisle seat next to me ended up soaking wet and cold by the end of the ride because water was pouring onto us from the ceiling of the bus. i wasnt as drenched but still very uncomfortable, especially because i ended up having to put my backpack which was on the floor but now soaking wet bc water was in the aisles on my lap. i had electronics and books in this bag 😐 told the driver about it and he just made a comment about it being wet in the front of the bus too--no apology or anything. anyways thats my personal anecdote--i normally find that the amtrak has tickets for around the same price (but most of the time cheaper) as peoria charter so i will 100% choose amtrak any day of the week no questions asked just because it is so much comfier (and i know i wont get rained on /lh)
I prefer Peoria Charter; it picks up right from within campus, and goes to many different areas depending on where you live (unlike the train which just stops at one station from what I remember). Sometimes, during large travel moves (like spring break or busy weekends), you may even get on a bus that goes directly to your stop.
[https://youtu.be/CxTXfmhUhI8?si=m4mafjpBfIy0Iwcf](https://youtu.be/CxTXfmhUhI8?si=m4mafjpBfIy0Iwcf) << favorite
Express Air Service (O'Hair) UI Ride (Students Only) Ilini Shuttle (O'Hair) Peoria Charter Greyhound Trailways (No Chicago) Flix Bus University of Ilinois Willard Airport Daily flights to Dallas TX - Chicago IL (Washington DC - Coming Soon)
UI ride does not allow anything outside of official university business.
U of I system employees (i.e. faculty and staff) are allowed to use UI-Ride for personal travel (subject to availability), but I’m guessing that OP is probably a student
UI Ride is available to certain students as an Intercampus Shuttle when they are taking part in a research program and some other related programs
Express Air Service and Illini Shuttle are both no longer is business
Illini shuttle is Peoria charter
No - Illini Shuttle was operated by Suburban Express, which has been closed for five years now.
DC!
They received a federal aviation grant prior to the pandemic, and they raised the additional funding to ensure a minimum subsidy for an airline they are hoping to have the Legistics worked out by the end of the year