Car Rental at CUS, drive to Galesburg?

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cindylou

Train Attendant
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Aug 17, 2008
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Hi, all, needing some input for an upcoming trip.

In the past, we've arrived in Chicago at 8:45 am and sat around until 2 pm waiting for the CZ back to Galesburg (where our car is parked). Wondering if we could rent a car (Enterprise near CUS and also near GBB station?) and just drive to Galesburg, turn in the car, and drive home. It would get us home several hours earlier.

Questions:

1. We would likely NOT cancel the rail portion ahead of time, in case we change our minds, or if weather is bad. So, can we claim our checked luggage at CUS if we are ticketed back to GBB?

2. Do we need to notify Amtrak (once we arrive in Chicago) IF we decide to drive and not board the CZ back to GBB?

3. There IS an Enterprise place near CUS, am I right?

Just trying to think through the logistics of this. Thanks for any help!

Cindy
 
Hi, all, needing some input for an upcoming trip.

In the past, we've arrived in Chicago at 8:45 am and sat around until 2 pm waiting for the CZ back to Galesburg (where our car is parked). Wondering if we could rent a car (Enterprise near CUS and also near GBB station?) and just drive to Galesburg, turn in the car, and drive home. It would get us home several hours earlier.

Questions:

1. We would likely NOT cancel the rail portion ahead of time, in case we change our minds, or if weather is bad. So, can we claim our checked luggage at CUS if we are ticketed back to GBB?

2. Do we need to notify Amtrak (once we arrive in Chicago) IF we decide to drive and not board the CZ back to GBB?

3. There IS an Enterprise place near CUS, am I right?

Just trying to think through the logistics of this. Thanks for any help!

Cindy
You could do this but I would suggest only checking your bags to CUS so you will have access if you decide to take the rental car.

You need to notify the conductor on your incoming train if you decide to not ride CZ from Chicago. You may also wish to contact Amtrak at CUS

There are car rental booths to serve CUS, but remember that a one way rental, especially using Enterprise, may be somewhat expensive ($130-150) for the trip from CHI to GBB. Only you can decide whether the extra cost is worth the time you might save by not waiting for the CZ.
 
One-Way car rentals are very expensive, unless you are driving from a high demand city with a car that is owned by the city you want to drop off at. Odds of that happening to DT Chicago are very slim. Dropping at the airports then taking the L into the city will incur the additional City and County Airport fees. Enterprise is one of the worse for renting one way. I would suggest checking out all the rental companies just in case you catch a special deal. Remember Hertz has a location in the garage attached to CUS.
 
The Enterprise in GBB is about 100 yards from the station. It is a rather small operation. The car that I reserved was not available but they rented me a nice Chev. Equinox

for the same price.

I don't know where you live but would it make sense to drive to South Bend (SOB) and park your car there (37 long term spots)? That way you get off the Capitol Ltd.

over an hour earlier (7:30AM plus or minus) and don't have to wait around for the CZ to leave.
 
I find this interesting because when we head west, we drive to GBB from Ohio (7 hours) because we can be home before the Cardinal leaves CUS - not to mention the Cardinal three times a week nonsense. I think Tom is correct, the Enterprise is catty-corner from the station. We also enjoy a meal at the Packinghouse while waiting on the Zeph or SWC.
 
FWIW - Amtrak doesn't recognize CUS.

To Amtrak, Chicago Union Station's IATA code is CHI.
Technically Amtrak doesn't use IATA codes, which come from the International Air Transport Association. Amtrak calls their codes "station codes".

However, I would say "CUS" is close enough that many will recognize it immediately, and the search terms "cus amtrak" result in Chicago Union Station being the top search result.
 
However, I would say "CUS" is close enough that many will recognize it immediately, and the search terms "cus amtrak" result in Chicago Union Station being the top search result.
On the AMTRAK website, if you type in "CUS" you get a response something like "No stations match your entry." While it may also be true that many on Amtrak Unlimited will recognize CUS immediately, it is also true that many will not; I did not. The OP is free to use whatever abreviations they choose, however, CHI would have been clearer.
 
Hi, all, needing some input for an upcoming trip.

In the past, we've arrived in Chicago at 8:45 am and sat around until 2 pm waiting for the CZ back to Galesburg (where our car is parked). Wondering if we could rent a car (Enterprise near CUS and also near GBB station?) and just drive to Galesburg, turn in the car, and drive home. It would get us home several hours earlier.

Questions:

1. We would likely NOT cancel the rail portion ahead of time, in case we change our minds, or if weather is bad. So, can we claim our checked luggage at CUS if we are ticketed back to GBB?

2. Do we need to notify Amtrak (once we arrive in Chicago) IF we decide to drive and not board the CZ back to GBB?

3. There IS an Enterprise place near CUS, am I right?

Just trying to think through the logistics of this. Thanks for any help!

Cindy

However, I would say "CUS" is close enough that many will recognize it immediately, and the search terms "cus amtrak" result in Chicago Union Station being the top search result.
On the AMTRAK website, if you type in "CUS" you get a response something like "No stations match your entry." While it may also be true that many on Amtrak Unlimited will recognize CUS immediately, it is also true that many will not; I did not. The OP is free to use whatever abreviations they choose, however, CHI would have been clearer.
But the OP was not talking stations as in what we would type in to book a trip, but was using the abbreviation for Union Station and if GBB station had it's own known name, like WUS (Washington Union Station) s/he would probably have used that too. Also, the OP had just said "arrived in Chicago".
 
But the OP was not talking stations as in what we would type in to book a trip, but was using the abbreviation for Union Station and if GBB station had it's own known name, like WUS (Washington Union Station) s/he would probably have used that too. Also, the OP had just said "arrived in Chicago".
I never said I couldn't figure it out, I eventually did. My point was only that CHI would have been clearer. By the way, I have lived in the DC area all my life and have never heard anyone refer to DC's Union Station as "WUS." If "WUS" is a known name it is not known to me. Apparently I am not well versed in some abrevations used on the forums but I doubt that I am unique. If you want to communicate effectively it is better to choose abreviations that will be recognized by all and not just insiders. Actually, it is best to define any abreviation you are using but I recognize that is a hopeless cause that will never happen!
 
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Why do these topics become arguments over "codes". Yes, they are petty arguments.
I don't know about petty. Perhaps silly. Personally I'd think it could make for a good pinned topic where various acronyms and abbreviations are spelled out, as well as a primer on station codes and their most common usage. It's really only a few outliers, like CUS, WUS, LAUS that aren't actual Amtrak station codes.
 
FWIW - Amtrak doesn't recognize CUS.

To Amtrak, Chicago Union Station's IATA code is CHI.
Sorry no. CHI is the IATA code for "Chicago All Airports". In addition it is the three letter IATA code for the City of Chicago. There is no IATA code for Chicago Union Station. The CHI code for Union Station is an Amtrak code which admittedly may have been borrowed from the IATA.code for Chicago City.

A good starting point to see railway stations that actually have IATA code assigned to them is the interesting Wiki Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IATA-indexed_railway_stations
 
But the OP was not talking stations as in what we would type in to book a trip, but was using the abbreviation for Union Station and if GBB station had it's own known name, like WUS (Washington Union Station) s/he would probably have used that too. Also, the OP had just said "arrived in Chicago".
I never said I couldn't figure it out, I eventually did. My point was only that CHI would have been clearer. By the way, I have lived in the DC area all my life and have never heard anyone refer to DC's Union Station as "WUS." If "WUS" is a known name it is not known to me. Apparently I am not well versed in some abrevations used on the forums but I doubt that I am unique. If you want to communicate effectively it is better to choose abreviations that will be recognized by all and not just insiders. Actually, it is best to define any abreviation you are using but I recognize that is a hopeless cause that will never happen!
WUS is the correct code for the auxiliary stop at the Capitol building.
 
I refer to the Spokane Amtrak station as "Spokane" and the Thruway bus stop in my home town of Colfax, WA as "Colfax". Should be no confusion about those. ;) Oh, and Spokane International Airport as "the Spokane Airport". :lol: Beats using GEG!!!!!
 
Geesh! I didn't come back to the forum for a few days and see I created a fuss about my abbreviations! (Kidding, just kidding!) To clarify, we'll be returning to central Iowa (land of no close trains :( ). We always drive the 3+ hours to Galesburg (safe/ free parking) where it's a short hop to Chicago, and then on with our trip to Florida. On the return, we end up sitting in Chicago for hours until the 2 pm Zephyr back to Galesburg. It we rented a car, we would drive to Galesburg, turn in the rental, get our car, and do the 3 hour trip home from there, arriving almost before we would board the CZ.

Research indicates that there is no Hertz in Galesburg, only Enterprise, for the rental return. And I realize it's pricey, but getting home earlier seems worth it.

We would only check our bags back to Chicago in case we decide upon arrival to rent the car. And: it would be a good idea to notify someone at the Amtrak counter in Chicago that we would NOT be boarding the CZ back to Galesburg, right? Rather than just be no shows?

Cindy
 
... We also enjoy a meal at the Packinghouse while waiting on the Zeph or SWC.
Be forewarned, however, that the Packinghouse is a bit expensive and not as good as it used to be. My wife is from there, and we lived there years ago. Now in the Quad Cities. And it's been several years since we ate at the PH so it may have improved...though I wouldn't bet on it.
 
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