Are there any Hokies from the Chicagoland area that can give me some tips on how to get to Blacksburg this season? Just moved here a couple weeks ago and have started trying to plan out my Fall trips. I'm looking at flights to Roanoke for ND weekend and they're insanely expensive if you don't want to leave at 6am on Sunday to come back. Do most of you fly into another airport and drive or am I just not looking in the right place?
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If you're active in the facebook verse, they have a group page that's pretty active. I've been to one of their viewing parties for an away game when i was passing through chicago
https://www.facebook.com/chicagohokies/
Lived in chicago over 10 years, and probably only been able to get back 3 times or so, I end up making it to more away games than home games. Some suggestions:
- Charlotte (although those flights aren't that cheap) grab a ride if possible from friends.
- DC drive is a little further than Charlotte, but still might be able to find cheaper flights.
-Its a long drive (~10 hours), but I've known other chicago hokies that have done it. If you want to split up the drive down, maybe leave after work and try to stop at a cheap hotel along the way on the way down and just do the entire drive back. Still prob cheaper than a flight. Maybe reach out on the facebook page and see if they can post something about anyone else driving down and looking to car pool?
Welcome to Chicago, definitely check out the facebook page, as we have watch parties at a bar in the city for most of the games!
Thanks! I don't have Facebook but I live in Lincoln Park and saw the watch parties are only a couple blocks away from me. I'll definitely be at Tobacco Road on Labor Day.
Southwest has directs from Midway to DCA for dirt cheap, but then you'd still have a 4.5 hour drive from Alexandria to Blacksburg. All things considered maybe the 10 hour drive is your best bet.
Boy, this post is bringing back great memories. I'd like to thank the Chicago Hokie Club for welcoming my family and friends when we attended the game at ND. The bus ride and tailgate were outstanding and well organized.....obviously all was made better with the Hokie victory. I highly recommend joining their club.
You could try to fly into the Tri Cities airport in Johnson City, TN. It's somewhat close to Roanoke in size. Blacksburg would be roughly 2.5 hours away. There's also Greensboro, NC. Probably 2.5 hours as well.
Thanks for the suggestions from everyone. As a PSA, it turns out there's now an airport just south of Harrisonburg (Shenandoah Valley) that has direct flights from Chicago. Easy drive from there to Blacksburg.
What? Really? This is news to me.
Yep, SHD has been around forever but they have changed carriers about 4 times in the last 10 years so right now they have United Express. I live a few miles away and it is a easy less than 2 hour ride to Tech.
I feel like a normal weekend would be cheap because roanoke has directs from chicago but there are probably few enough flights that the traffic from ND fans is pushingup the prices that weekend
If you book flights from ORD > CLT ahead of time (more than a month) you should be able to do it for ~300 bucks round trip. The drive up from Charlotte is easy and I do it frequently.
A lot of times, our alum association here will charter a bus for big games and take a big group up and back. Might be something to look into. I think this year we're doing GT.
Checked Amtrak? Don't.
I live in Michigan and I usually just drive. Sometimes alumni associations will charter buses.