I flew to Minnesota this morning. I went by way of Chicago. I have now decided that there is no question at all that flying and driving to Chicago take the same amount of time. It took three hours to get to the runway in Chicago, and I'm quite certain it would have been another hour to get a rental and actually drive into the city. So there you go. And given how inefficient flying is anyway (especially short-haul flights), you might just as well take the car, as it will save gas (for more on this, the Economist recently did an article on aircraft emissions).

And then there's the train. Whether or not it takes more or less time to get to Chicago...depends. But at least you can relax and read.

I totally agree...and somehow, every once in a while, I am sucked into a cheap airfare and ALWAYS regret it, because it always ends up being at least a six hour trip. It is 100% faster to drive when you are traveling to Detroit from Chicago. I still haven't figured out how Minneapolis and Detroit are both Northwest hubs and there are no stupid direct flights. --Sarah

I feel so much better now! I was debating between train & renting a car for my trip to Chicago, figuring that flying would take at least as long once travel time to the airport, convincing random strangers I'm not a terrorist, etc. were taken into account. In the end, I decided on driving so that I would be able to get home before the train would have gotten me here. I didn't beat the train home, but I was able to take lots of stuff out to my sister! - Mara