Ottawa to Chicago

Compare trains, buses, flights and ferries from Ottawa to Chicago. From €91.59, fastest 4h 55m, with the total price and every fee shown up front.

Traveling from Ottawa to Chicago costs €91.59 at the cheapest and takes 4h 55m door to door at the fastest, across 1 mode and 5 operators. The route covers 1,070 km. Cheapest is by Flight, fastest is by Flight.

Checked September 11, 2026Priced for September 28, 2026One passenger, all fees included

At a glance

Distance
1,070 km
Fastest
4h 55m
Average
5h 2m
Services per day
30
Cheapest
€91.59
CO2 per passenger
263.2 kg
Door to door

Every way to make this journey

Journey times below are door to door, so they include getting to the terminal and away from it at the other end. Fares are the cheapest we currently sell on September 28, 2026.

Door to door means the whole journey, including reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end. Fares are the cheapest sold on each mode.
ModeDoor to doorMovingAt the endsFromCO2Per day
Flight4h 55m1h 45m3h 10m€106.93263.2 kg30
  • 4h 55mFastest, by Flight
  • €106.93Cheapest, by Flight
  • 263.2 kgLowest CO2, by Flight
  • 1,070 kmDistance traveled
Real services

The cheapest and the fastest on September 28, 2026

Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.

Cheapest€91.59
  1. American Airlines AA472514:121h 54m16:06Ottawa YOWChicago MDW

Door to door 5h 4mCO2 263.2 kgChanges 0Fixed, no changes

Fastest€128.76
  1. Republic Airways RA568606:081h 45m07:53Ottawa YOWChicago ORD

Door to door 4h 55mCO2 263.2 kgChanges 0Fixed, no changes

Today's real departures

Live from the operators' own published timetables, through the open transit feeds they publish. Times and services are real. Fares are modeled until our booking connectors are live.

No live timetable for this trip yet.

Live from the operators' own published timetables, through the open transit feeds they publish. Times and services are real. Fares are modeled until our booking connectors are live.

Prices over the next three weeks

Live from our own engine, refreshed on every request. The cheapest days for each way of traveling are marked.

Cheapest fare by mode and day for Ottawa to Chicago
Cheapest fare by mode and day for Ottawa to ChicagoSatSep 12SunSep 13MonSep 14TueSep 15WedSep 16ThuSep 17FriSep 18SatSep 19SunSep 20MonSep 21TueSep 22WedSep 23ThuSep 24FriSep 25
Flight€201.92€187.17€132.89€129.94€138.20€180.09€131.12€134.66€123.45€106.93€111.65€115.78€144.10€111.06

Cheapest day: 2026-09-28 · €91.59

That is the traveling done. What happens after you walk out into Chicago is not something we sell.

A hotel room

Looking for somewhere to stay in Chicago?

The search opens on Chicago with your nights already filled in, so it is one step to a real price.

Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.

Booking window

When to book Ottawa to Chicago

The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.

  1. €114.0190 days
  2. €68.5860 days
  3. €74.4845 days
  4. €85.6930 days
  5. €102.2121 days
  6. €111.0614 days
  7. €131.127 days
  8. €132.893 days
  9. €201.921 days
Cheapest lead time
Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €68.58.
How much it moves
The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 194 percent. The most expensive point is €201.92, 1 days out.
What that means
Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
€201.92€68.581371421304560

Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 60 days ahead. You are inside that window.

Day of the week

Which departure day costs least

Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.

  1. €123.45Sun
  2. €106.93Mon
  3. €111.65Tue
  4. €115.78Wed
  5. €144.10Thu
  6. €111.06Fri
  7. €134.66Sat
Across the year

How the fare moves month by month

The same journey priced on the fifteenth of each of the next six months.

  1. €129.94Sep
  2. €95.13Oct
  3. €84.51Nov
  4. €86.28Dec
  5. €82.74Jan
  6. €72.12Feb

The route

OttawaOttawaChicagoChicago
The journey

What the journey actually looks like

Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.

How far it really runs
The route covers 1,070 km against 1,039 km in a straight line, a detour of 3 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
First and last departure
The first service of the day leaves Ottawa at 06:08 and the last at 20:13, across 30 departures. The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.
Terminals

Where you leave from and where you arrive

The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.

Ottawa

Rail
  • Ottawa
  • Ottawa station
  • Laman
Bus
  • Ottawa Bus Central Station
  • Smyth
Air
  • YOW
Ferry
  • Watertaxi

Chicago

Rail
  • Chicago Union Station
  • Chicago Ridge
  • Chicago station
Bus
  • Chicago Union Station
  • Chicago & Austin Terminal
Air
  • ORD
  • MDW
Ferry
  • Chicago Avenue
  • Chicago Riverwalk
Carriers

Who runs this route

Speed, flexibility and what is on board. Nothing here is a rating, because we have not earned one.

Every operator we sell on this corridor. Speed is the carrier's own typical cruising speed, not the average over this route.
OperatorFromFastest
Air Canada€97.494h 55m
American Airlines€91.594h 55m
American Eagle Airlines€93.954h 56m
Republic Airways€95.134h 55m
United Airlines€95.724h 55m
The price

What the fare is made of

Every part of the total, so the number at checkout is the number here.

The cheapest Flight fare we sell on 2026-09-28, broken into its parts. Nothing is added after this.
PartAmountShare
Operator fare€70.0076%
Taxes€12.6014%
Supplier fees€7.008%
Our service fee€1.992%
Total you pay€91.59100%

A day in Chicago hauling a suitcase is a shorter day than it needs to be. We do not store bags.

Left luggage lockers

Baggage storage near Chicago Union Station

Most of the points near Chicago Union Station open before the first train and close after the last one.

Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.

Questions about Ottawa to Chicago

The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.

How long does it take to get from Ottawa to Chicago?

The fastest journey from Ottawa to Chicago takes 4h 55m door to door, of which 1h 45m is spent moving, on the Flight. Most services take around 5h 2m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.

How much does it cost to travel from Ottawa to Chicago?

The cheapest fare from Ottawa to Chicago is €91.59, checked on September 28, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €146.17. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.

What is the cheapest way to get from Ottawa to Chicago?

The cheapest way from Ottawa to Chicago is by Flight, at €106.93 for one passenger on September 28, 2026. That journey takes 4h 55m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.

When should I book Ottawa to Chicago?

Fares from Ottawa to Chicago bottom out around 60 days before departure, at €68.58. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 194 percent, measured on September 28, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.

Which day of the week is cheapest for Ottawa to Chicago?

Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Ottawa to Chicago, at €106.93. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, checked on September 28, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.

Which month is cheapest for Ottawa to Chicago?

February is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Ottawa to Chicago, at €72.12 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.

Who runs service from Ottawa to Chicago?

5 operators sell services from Ottawa to Chicago across 1 modes: Air Canada, American Airlines, American Eagle Airlines, Republic Airways, United Airlines. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.

Is there a direct service from Ottawa to Chicago?

Every service we sell from Ottawa to Chicago is direct, with around 30 departures a day and a fastest journey of 4h 55m door to door. No connection is needed, so there is no missed connection risk to plan around on this corridor.

Which station or terminal do services from Ottawa to Chicago use?

Services from Ottawa to Chicago by Flight leave from Ottawa YOW and arrive at Chicago ORD. Allow about 3h 10m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.

Can I change or refund a ticket from Ottawa to Chicago?

0 of the 5 operators we sell from Ottawa to Chicago allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.

Where these numbers come from

Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.

Schedules, seat counts and fares are generated by our own model until the supplier contracts are signed. Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance are real. We would rather say that on every page than let a modeled number pass for a filed one.

Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances

On this page
Every figure above was computed for Ottawa to Chicago on September 11, 2026: 1070 km of route against 1039 km in a straight line, 30 services a day, 5 operators, a cheapest fare of €91.59, and 4h 55m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.

The flight is the simple part. What you do once you are in Chicago is somebody else's catalog.

A guided tour group

Anything to book in Chicago before you go?

Timed entry, guided walks and half-day trips out of Chicago, with free cancellation on most of it.

Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.

Other ways to make this journey

Arriving in Chicago

Leaving Chicago

  • 266Places you can leave for
  • 40Countries
  • 77Operators

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