ATA or United to Chicago?

I'll be going to Chicago right after Christmas for a couple of days and have just recently started looking for fares. The chances of bad weather and delays around that time are high so my mother pointed out that we should try and fly out of LGA over JFK and EWR since it is closest to my sisters house where we could chill if anything were to go wrong.

Jet Blue, Continental, United, Delta, American, and ATA all generally have the same fare, however only United and ATA are from LGA.

I have yet to fly either airline before so I think it would be great to take one but I can't decide which. Of course United is ORD and ATA is Midway and United is an A319 and 757-200 while ATA is a 737-800 both ways.

From previous experience can anyone recommend ATA over United or United over ATA in terms of service?

Both have no service to Chicago, ATA isn't bad, you can upgrade to biz class cheap which will get you on board first and you'll have more leg room. UAL has Eco Plus which you can also upgrade pretty cheaply to and is worth the extra few dollars. I'm not sure if UAL will offer buy board to Chicago from the New York area but if they do I'd go UAL otherwise if miles aren't a factor give ATA a try.

DL has LGA-MDW flights. I would go with ATA anyway because the planes they use are bigger than the ones Delta uses. I would avoid United so you don't have to go to O'Hare. ATA you fly to Midway.

I'm biased towards ATa here. For you, it's a quicker drive to LGA, and cheap upgrade to what is a nice biz class product.

But lets not forget United has Channel 9, live ATC from your seat, an awesome perk for flying UA.

LGA777

i'd sway towards TZ. though if you're looking to fly the EMB-175 then definately try DL. besides, that way you can fly from the MAT which is an experience all it's own.

I'd go with ATA, if for no other reason than they are not too common and you're not as likely to fly them again as AA, DL, or UA.

I flew MDW-LGA yesterday on ATA and the plane didn't have a biz class section. :?:

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Originally Posted by Iberia A340-600

Jet Blue, Continental, United, Delta, American, and ATA all generally have the same fare, however only United and ATA are from LGA.

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AA has the most flights from LGA-ORD at 18 during the week. UA has 15. Not sure about ATA. I am biAAsed towards AA though as I have elite status and am usually able to get upgraded. They use the Super 80s which are a bit dated. When there are flight delays, the Admirals Club is a cool place to hang out and watch take-offs and landings. AA is also the only airline to fly from all three major airports (JFK, LGA, EWR) to ORD.

I had this decision to make for next week and ended up with UA thanks to Channel 9, potential to maybe get an Economy Plus seat and the fact that it gets me some mileage with a carrier I can fly internationally (which is what I usually redeem mileage for). But I ALMOST went with the DL since I like flying from the MAT and have heard the EMB175 is very comfortable.

The DL service LGA-MDW is on the E-170 but they do have E-175's on order.

LGA777

Matt, were you on a 300? Those are still making their rounds at LGA. The 800's if I am not mistaken all have the biz cabin on it. I have flown it from SRQ to IND when it existed on positive space business travel. It is a good product. Comfortable seating and all.

Yep, I didn't get a good look at the outside nor did I get the reg but it had winglets and FlightAware says it was a -800.

I just looked at Seatguru.com and it lists 1-class and 2-class versions of ATA 738s, so I guess they have some without biz. Also, I was seated in row 30, the last row, which the 733 and biz class 738 don't get up to. Note to all...try not to sit in row 30. For some reason the ATA site didn't let me pick seats (perhaps because it was the second leg of a Southwest itinerary?) and we were assigned them at the airport. Tiny pitch and no recline. Not fun.

Thanks for all the help guys.

I'd love to take ATA or a Delta E-170 to MDW but my mother, who is deadly afraid of flying, has found out about the "runway" mishaps at MDW and refuses to fly there. I'd also like to fly into O'Hare since it is part of the "Chicago" experience! :wink:

So now the choices have been narrowed down to United, Continental or Jet Blue. I think I'm leaning towards Jet Blue but Continental means miles. I'm booking tonight so I'll let you guys know what the outcome is.

Just don't take the 8PM on jetBlue from JFK...its not pretty..

JetBlue Airways 8:00 PM JFK-ORD Delayed 83.33% of the time, average mins delayed- 109

Just back from ORD with United last week, I was able to buy upgrades to Economy Plus at the check in kiosk for around $30 which your mom might find worthwhile for the extra legroom. Also of course UA has Channel 9 cockpit audio and something that is rarely mentioned is they make an effort (if not out and out pledge) to use close-in gates at ORD for the LGA flights to get people in and out conveniently, they call this 'Business1' or something. Sounds like a minor thing but there are times I've flown AA on same sector and been way out at the end of a pier at ORD in both directions. Just my 2 cents worth on differentiation!

DL flies JFK-ORD as well as JetBlue.

Never consulted my dad during this, he'd rather fly out of Newark.

Continental it is!

Where you are in Poughkeepsie, too bad AA pulled out of SWF. You would have had it easy!

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Originally Posted by JetBlueAirwaysFan

Where you are in Poughkeepsie, too bad AA pulled out of SWF. You would have had it easy!

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I was hoping to finally be able to fly out of SWF on American Eagle to ORD but of course they pulled it. However the fares were about $200 more then what I paid.

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Originally Posted by T-Bird76

Just don't take the 8PM on jetBlue from JFK...its not pretty..

JetBlue Airways 8:00 PM JFK-ORD Delayed 83.33% of the time, average mins delayed- 109

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And the last evening flight out on a Sunday, it gets ugly. Good thing about it is NWA waiting area gets empty you can bunk there... jetBlue didn't turn out bad, luggage was quick and the staff was nice. I'd go jetBlue.

My apologies, I forgot to mention that AA flies HPN-ORD as well.

I know you already booked on CO, but I figured for future reference I would tell you.

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Originally Posted by JetBlueAirwaysFan

My apologies, I forgot to mention that AA flies HPN-ORD as well.

I know you already booked on CO, but I figured for future reference I would tell you.

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I am aware of United and American flying to ORD from HPN but it was about $200 more. :(

I figured it would be. Just saying it for the record.