Planning: Chicago

I'll be going to Chicago for work in December and I need to do it on the cheap. Everything I spend on the trip will come out of my budget for the year, and I don't have a lot of budget to go around. 

The conference hotel was $140/night, but I figured I could find something a little less expensive. I didn't want to walk too far since it will potentially be cold and windy, so I didn't take the absolute cheapest hotel I could find, but I found something within four blocks that was $106/night. I'll save almost $100 after my 3 day stay.

I also considered driving so that I would have flexibility to come and go from the conference when I wanted to. I do get reimbursed for milage, but again, that would come out of my budget. I ran the milage and figured it would be about $230 for milage, and then I would have to add on parking at a downtown hotel for three nights, which could probably run about $40-$50/night. I looked up flights into Midway and found something that worked pretty well with my schedule for $115. I did some online research and figured out I can get a cab from Midway to downtown for $25-$30 if I'm in a hurry, or I can ride the El for $2-$3 and walk the few blocks to my hotel. 

Turns out flying is WAY more affordable than driving! I've driven to Chicago so many times....I'll have to consider flying in the future (unless I'm going with a number of people who are splitting the gas to make it more affordable).

I really, really love Chicago and I'm excited to spend a few days in the city just before Christmas!