hawk Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Good morning. I will be spending a week in Chicago with my family (me, my wife, and my two children who are 9 and 6 years old). We are flying to O'Hare and will not be renting a car for the week. I'm wondering if somebody can walk me through how to acquire the correct CTA passes for my family? We will be stepping off the plane into a new place that we don't know, so any guidance would be very appreciated. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Good morning. I will be spending a week in Chicago with my family (me, my wife, and my two children who are 9 and 6 years old). We are flying to O'Hare and will not be renting a car for the week. I'm wondering if somebody can walk me through how to acquire the correct CTA passes for my family? We will be stepping off the plane into a new place that we don't know, so any guidance would be very appreciated. Thank you. There is a combination of two things, both explained to some degree on transitchicago.com: figuring out how to use Ventra, and then figuring out the fare schedule, which describes the various passes. If you are going directly from O'Hare to CTA, you'll need some sort of Ventra medium, as turnstiles at the Blue Line station (which is the only CTA access to O'Hare) don't take cash. Theoretically you can use an RFID enabled bank card, but if you use it as a bank card, instead of getting a pass, it will be charged a cash fare ($5.00 at O'Hare) and you don't get transfers. Basically, the question is whether you can get and load a Ventra card over the Internet sufficiently in advance, or have to wait in front of the Ventra vending machine at the station. But despite claims that this is an open standards system, it is not, and especially not friendly to visitors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Welcome! CTA offers 1-day, 3-day, and 7-day passes that are your best value if you plan on riding the CTA frequently during your visit. Children under 7 are free with a paying adult. Children aged 7-11 are eligible for a reduced fare ($1.00 for bus, $1.10 for rail). You need a Ventra Card to load passes and pay fares. If your visit is still at least a couple weeks away, I recommend ordering your Ventra cards online in advance. Doing so avoids the refundable $5 card fee, and you can pre-load the card with passes or transit value that will activate on your first tap. If you're not able to obtain a Ventra card in advance, you can purchase a Ventra card, load transit value, or buy passes using vending machines located at every CTA rail station. In your scenario, you may wish to obtain two Ventra cards: one for yourself and another for your wife. Each can be loaded with a 7-day pass for $28. Since a reduced fare option is not available for 7-day passes, for your 9-year-old you can also load one or both of your Ventra cards with additional transit value.* When boarding, tell the bus operator or station attendant that you're paying a reduced fare with your same Ventra card. The first tap will use your 7-day pass and the second tap will deduct a reduced fare from the transit value portion of your card. –– * To purchase a card from the Ventra web site with both a pass and transit value, first select "CTA 7-Day Pass" under "Purchase a Pass", and then switch to the "Load Transit Value" tab and select an amount. In your shopping cart, you should see both the pass and transit value listed. (You can also load both a pass and transit value on your card at any Ventra vending machine.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TripleTransit1 Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 To acquire a Ventra card from O'Hare: Purchase it at the station, which is located at the main parking garage on the lower lever of the airport. Cards cost $5. After purchase of the card, the card can be loaded with money, but only at CTA rail stations and retail locations. When paying train or bus fare using your card, tap your card on the yellow target indicated on the reader and a green "Go" sign should appear. When that happens, money is subtracted from the card ($2 on buses, $2.25 on trains). But since you are coming from O'Hare, $5 will be taken off the card upon paying for train fare (I know, bummer, right? ) As for the rest of your family, Your wife can follow the same steps, you can buy your oldest child a unlimited ride ticket for $10, and you won't need to worry about your 6-year-old because CTA Passengers ages 7 and under don't pay fare at all. I hope this information was very useful, and I hope you enjoy your time here in Chicago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarioM Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 If the adults are paying single ride fares, why on Earth would you want to buy the child a $10 unlimited 1-day pass? Is the child going to go on a riding spree without the rest of the family? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarioM Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 I would also suggest you get the card online if time allows and if you live in the United States (they do not ship internationally). If you cannot do that, then there are Ventra Vending Machines located at the entrance to the O'Hare train station. This video shows how to buy a Ventra Card loaded with cash ("Transit Value") and then use it to pass through the turnstiles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VhLv0ZMuqg If you discover that you did not add enough Transit Value and want to add more later at another machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vROHxKz0ok If you would rather add an unlimited ride pass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WHXlrcYbiE Note that the machines accept cash and credit cards, but do not make change. If you want to use a credit card, it will ask you for a Zip Code, which will be a problem for foreign travelers. Some foreign travelers have reported that a random 5-digit number will work. One traveler had success with 60601. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Also, many of our grocery/pharmacy store chains(e.g: Jewel, CVS, Walgreens) have Ventra Card machines located at their Customer Service Desks. You can also reload cash value and unlimited ride passes on the Ventra Cards there(just let the Customer Service Rep know you wish to add value or passes to your cards). You can also purchase Ventra Cards there, but there is a one time $5.00 charge that would be turned into transit credit once the cards are registered at ventra's website here. It's up to you how you want to acquire the Ventra Cards... Welcome to Chicago BTW. I would recommend checking out some of our sites while you're here.... Navy Pier, Sears(Willis) Tower Skydeck, Wrigley Field, Solider Field, Millennium Park, Lincoln Park Zoo, Buckingham Fountain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Also, many of our grocery/pharmacy store chains(e.g: Jewel, CVS, Walgreens) have Ventra Card machines located at their Customer Service Desks. .. I had assumed that that wouldn't be doing him much good if the issue was getting out of O'Hare on the Blue Line. The Ventra map* shows the nearest outlets at Mannheim and Touhy or Lawrence and Cumberland. Now, if there were a CVS in the concourse, that would be different. _____ *It accepts "5 miles of" "O'Hare Airport." Also, to retract something I said earlier, I see that some Walmarts are now on the map. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Just make sure when you register your ventra card you write down all the passwords I have an unusable card because I didn't. You will get your $5 back that you put into the machine to purchase the card and then be able to buy passes online. Ventrachicago.com will be the site you do that from. Getting a cta map at the train station customer assistance booth will tell you the fares if paying by cash or ventra but you can only pay cash on buses and there is no transfers. Ventra will give you two transfers in two hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busfan2 Posted July 19, 2014 Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 I forgot my Ventra password and was able to log on with a temporary one by class clicking on forgot password. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawk Posted July 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 Thank you all for the very helpful information! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.