Ijtema Air/Train Transportation Info
Asalaamo Alaikum,
We look forward to meeting all our brothers flying in to attend the 2010 MKA USA National Ijtema. While everyone is still planning their trips right now, I would like to make some transportation recommendations and suggestions to all attendees that will not be driving to the Ijtema site.
First off, the Transportation department’s responsibility is to ensure that all attendees get to the Ijtema Site safely, securely, and comfortably.
With that said, the Transportation department strongly encourages all brothers and guests not traveling by car to fly into and out of
O’Hare and Midway airports should all be considered limited service options for travel, meaning that it will take more time for you to get to the Ijtema site and may require you to leave the Ijtema site before the closing session ends. There will be no transportation provided from Union Station (Chicago).
Below is a summary of all non-car transportation options available to brothers coming to the Ijtema this year, with our comments/timing information:
We strongly recommend that you fly to this airport if you will be attending the Ijtema and not driving. The process will be simple:
1.) When exiting the terminal from your plane, you will walk into a lobby/food court/ticketing area, with several exits. Look for an MKA transportation representative standing by, and if you cannot find him, please proceed downstairs to either of the baggage claim areas. If you still cannot find anyone there, please call the transportation department and we will guide you to your transport. Please follow your transportation representative’s instructions.
2.) Your wait time will be minimal Inshallah. The Ijtema site is 15-20 minutes away from the airport.
3.) For dropoff, we would encourage you to leave at least 2-3 hours before your flight time – while the distance is short, last year on Sunday there was a major traffic jam near the freeways by the site and to avoid anyone missing their flight we recommend this timing schedule.
O’Hare
As stated above, we discourage any brothers traveling by air to fly to O’Hare. If you still need to do so, here is a timetable:
If flying in between Thursday morning and 7pm Thursday, wait time for pickup = 2-4 hours
If flying in on Thursday evening after 7pm, wait time for pickup = 1-2 hours
If flying in anytime on Friday (all day), wait time for pickup = 3-6 hours
Feel free to contact us and we will let you know the name and contact information of the driver who will be picking you up.
The driving distance between O'hare and Ijtema site is 1.5 hours in the evening and up to 3 hours in the day (for both days). For your dropoff, we would recommend you make arrangements with us to leave the Ijtema site 4-5 hours before your return flight.
Midway:
As stated above, we strongly discourage any brothers traveling by air to fly to Midway (this airport is 20 miles southwest of O’Hare). If you still need to do so, here is a timetable:
If flying in Thursday morning-7pm, wait time for pickup = 3-6 hours
If flying in Thursday evening, wait time for pickup = 2-4 hours
If flying in Friday (all day), wait time for pickup = 4-7 hours
Feel free to contact us and we will let you know the name and contact information of the driver who will be picking you up so you can make arrangements with that person.
The driving distance between Midway and Ijtema site is 2 hours in the evening and up to 3.5 hours in the day (for both days). For your dropoff, we would recommend you make arrangements with us to leave the Ijtema site 5-6 hours before your return flight.
Amtrak
If you have the extra time off (Thursday through Monday) and you cannot find tickets at a reasonable price and/or do not want to deal with the hassle of driving, another option you can consider is taking the Amtrak train service. Please note that for those brothers coming in groups of 20 or more, for every 20 passengers Amtrak offers a 20% discount both ways. Please visit http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak/grouptravel or call 1-800-USA-1GRP for more information on these discounts. From our end, Amtrak service straight to Milwaukee Airport Train Station (MKA) is encouraged over going to O'Hare or Midway as the train comes right to the airport itself.
If you are not in a group of 20 or more—to buy tickets for Amtrak to get to Ijtema:
1.) Visit www.amtrak.com
2.) Select round-trip, and then select Thurs, Aug 4th as the departure date and Sunday, August 8th as the return date.
3.) Click add to cart for both the departure and return trips – ensure that your final destination is
4.) Here are some current round-trip rates from various areas:
5.) When you arrive at the
6.) For dropoff, we would recommend leaving the Ijtema site 1-2 hours before your train departs.
If you have any questions regarding Ijtema transportation you can contact Zarik Khan - Nazim Transportation at 630-999-8005.
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