I arrived at 10:33 and the bus was ready to leave for O'Hare at 10:30. The kind, relaxed man at the counter quickly assisted me in catching it. The driver was friendly and didn't appear bothered by my tardiness. The bus is quiet and clean. A great experience. read more

Last night was the absolute worst experience I've had with Van Galder. We got off our flight at 10:40p, and rushed to the bus depot in hopes to catch the 11p bus. We got to the bus depot at 10:58p and the bus was no where to be found. This was annoying and an inconvenience but not the end of the world as we were originally thinking we'd have to take the 12:30a bus. So we have to wait an hour a half, got on the bus and got back to Rockford. --This is the when the real fun starts. There are signs all over to pay for parking at outside kiosk. Which did not work for me or three other folks causing us to be trapped inside the parking lot over night. Which is weird because this SAME EXACT scenario caused them to be on the local news maybe 2 months ago! read more

I've been an avid Van Gadder Bus rider for the better part of 15 years. As a business traveler traveling most weeks at least once to and from O'Hare airport. On Friday January 22, while riding from O'Hare to Rockford, another rider who clearly is not the 'approachable type' was using inappropriate language and was very loud doing so. Rather than walk from back of bus and tell driver, I contacted dispatch and asked them to contact driver to handle the situation. After 20 minutes of no action, I called back, and expressed my concern that the situation wasn't handled at all, I was then transferred to a Supervisor who advised me to do one of the following: 1) Move to front and notify driver and stay up there 2) Go up to the front of bus and tell the driver (and risk getting into an altercation with this individual) 3) Approach the individual (see reason why I called in the first place) 4) Do nothing. They did nothing. Clearly the value of a very regularly rider is no longer valuable to Van Galder! After 15 years of great service, CLEARLY customer service of frequent riders is not important. I strongly recommend you consider alternative transportation to and from airport! Sincerely, Former rider! read more

Vangalder was once a very nice way to get to downtown Chicago. But the drivers no longer request that the passengers keep their phones turned down and voices low. As a matter of fact, the DRIVERS now are a big part of the noise problem. They play the radio (NPR, music, etc) so loud that it can be heard throughout the bus. And then the passengers turn on their cell phones and play videos, music, etc. as loud as they'd like. It's just not a relaxing way to travel. I'll drive into the city next time! read more

30 minutes late and the driver does not care. Every semi passing us and this driver could care less. Will never depend on this company again

I have always taken the bus from Rockford to O'Hare due to the ease of drop off and pick up. The trip into O'Hare went very easy as is normal. However the return trip became a nightmare. My plane arrived early and I thought great I can catch the 8pm bus to Rockford. I hurried as much as I could to make the bus terminal, however due to asthma I had to stop a couple times to catch my breath. I arrived right at the Rockford bus terminal about 5 minutes before 8. He had just shut luggage door, no one was on bus from Rockford yet. I walked up to him and said I had return ticket and luggage, he said very rudely get to the back of the line. (A couple ladies at end of line said to me he was very rude with all the passengers) Then he announced anyone with tickets can start boarding. I started with the line, only to be told to return to the back of line again because I had luggage. He allowed about 6-7 others to purchase tickets from him and get on. Then he announced "ok I have 6 seats left on the bus, the next six people can get on (which included me thankfully) and the rest will have to wait". He then opened the luggage compartment (mind you plenty of room left there) and loaded the next six. He was the rudest and cruelest bus driver I have ever encountered on all my trips. My suggestion is if he doesn't like his job, get another one. This is truly bad customer service. This happened May 30 at the 8pm pickup from O'Hare to Rockford. I have the guys name but I think this company should know who that terrible driver was. read more

Terrible customer service! I booked a bus ticket online, when I came into the station with a printed out ticket the receptionist laughed at me because she didn't understand what the paper was for. After explaining I purchased a ticket online and this was the confirmation number, she called another lady and I was told I would have to purchase another ticket in order to ride the bus and that I could ask the bank for my money back. They were serious, I tried to understand the logics in this statement and I couldn't. I purchased another ticket, disputed the other amount with my bank because I just wanted to get home! I will never ride with this bus service again! read more

7 (un)loading parking spots. 20 seats inside. ATM inside. Soda and snack machine. Open 20 hours. Male bathroom has a stall and a urinal.

I'm giving Van Galder two stars because for all the years I've used them for my annual Christmas trip from O'hare to Rockford (originating in CA), they have done a great job getting me to and from the airport. However, this year as I was booking my trip, I discovered that Van Galder no longer accepts pets on their buses. I've traveled with my dog for about 20 years on this trip, and this year it will either cost me a small fortune to get to and from O'hare. Plus, when I called the company to ask about it, the person on the phone was pretty snippy and unconcerned that they would lose a long-term customer over this. I'm sure they've had some idiots riding on their bus with pets, but I've never seen one so I wonder what is behind all of this now that more people than ever travel with their pets. Evidence of this is that Southwest, after years of no pets, now allow pet travel. Rethink your policy, Van Galder! read more

Have used the S. Beloit to OHare bus once. Not sure the beef some have with a bus not waiting for you and trying to stay on schedule, but I personally appreciate that they do that. Quiet ride. Nice comfy seat. Please do not reprimand drivers that wish to keep a posted schedule. Some of us rely heavily on such timeliness and professionalism. read more

Today I was a firsthand witness to idiocracy. YOUD THINK that van galder would know by now that certain days are busier than others and plan accordingly. However that concept must be foreign to them. This is the first day of spring break (I am a college student) and i usually take Van Galder to Ohare airport. Every SINGLE time the bus is very crowded. Today, arrived 15 mins early and it was full when I was about to board. Then ensues 20 mins of rude employees not knowing what the hell was going on. Complete lack of communication and foresight from Van Galder. Pro tip to them - invest in a freaking analytics department. read more

The bus ride was great from O'Hare to Rockford. I had my car dropped off to the terminal parking lot at 6:00 in the evening and I arrived on the bus at 11:20 that same evening. Parking fee is supposed to be $3.00 a day but I was charged $6.00. I asked why and she informed me that the car was left the day before. I checked with the person who dropped it off and was assured that wasn't the case. When I called I got switched and disconnected. Called back and got a cell # and that wasn't asnwered. It isn't the amount of money, it is the idea that either someone isn't to bright or they are ripping off customers. Not a happy camper right now. read more

On the bus right now and it is sweltering!!!! Luke warm air blowing out of vents and per the driver it doesn't get any cooler!!! Maintain your buses. First and last time I will utilize Van Galder! read more

The bus arrived over an hour behind schedule. They manage to be behind schedule with consistency. What more can I say. The gentleman at the front desk was very helpful and polite, however this sort of deviation off schedule with no warning online is pretty terrible. Horrible WiFi available, but that is to be expected. Overall, I unfortunately will have to use this company again since not many function around here, so I pretty much have to put up with it. read more

As has already been mentioned by other reviewers, this bus line is a nice option in theory and for many in practice. However many of the negative points stated above have become apparent as I am currently dealing with many of them as I ride the bus line back to the city of Chicago using their on-board WiFi to write this review. The experience going out to Rockford was relatively painless, except the little detail that the "station" where I was waiting for the bus had barely any information, little to help a new rider know how to use the bus system for this company. The initial bus driver was great! He was considerate, treated everyone with respect, and makes it appear that this job is awesome and that he enjoys what he is doing, even if that is not the case. He was wonderful all around. The problem of this bus company/or at least this one specific bus driver became apparent when he belittled me from the start of our interactions when I handed him my luggage. He would not help provide anymore insight in to my question about the drop off point of this specific bus, he did not say a single hello to any customers, he went to the extreme of embarrassing me in front of the rest of the passengers when I temporally mis-placed my receipt and ticket for the bus which I just bought but in the initial interactions mis-placed because I was so flustered. So all in all, if asked would I ever take this mode of transportation again? The response would be a 10% chance that I would! and if I realized this specific driver was driving the bus I would turn around and either catch the next one or more than likely rent a car and at least have a much better experience traveling than dealing with this system again. (By the way Mr. Bus driver and your company- Thanks for the WiFi, without it I might not have spent the time to write this review after getting home, since typically I try not to make a point of complaining about simply daily problems.) read more

I have used this service many times, and it is convenient until you get stuck spending the night at the airport. I will NEVER use this service again. My flight into O'Hare was delayed and we ended up landing at 10:45. The last bus for the night was at 11:00, and I knew that I couldn't quite make it. I called Van Galder's after hours number and asked if they could contact the driver to see if he would be able to hold the bus a few minutes. Not an unreasonable request, as I'm sure that would be a relatively simple thing to do. If he had said he couldn't, I would have left it at that. Instead, this person refused to even try, even though she said at least 10 other people had called to ask the same thing. She refused to let me talk to a supervisor or even give me her full name (She only said her name was Sam). No bus now until 6am. Van Galder needs to seriously reconsider who they use for an after hours service, because her rudeness and refusal to help has lost her my family's business. And they need to think about adding a night route. Lots of people need to fly at odd hours and I cannot be the only person that has found themselves having to spend the night in the airport because there isn't any service from 11pm to 6am. read more

seriously, invest in some modern ticket/pay equipment. it's ridiculous i have to pay in cash (which I don't always carry when traveling) and print out a ticket (which I can't easily do when my flight plan changes and I have to reroute). it works, but i wouldn't choose it if i had to. oh wait, it's a monopoly read more

I've used Van Galder several times traveling back and forth between Rockford and Chicago. Usually, I have no issues traveling. I can't say that I enjoy it, but it's not miserable either. Then came last Saturday. My husband and I were coming back from a late flight to my parents' house in Rockford. We were tired, it was late, and we just wanted to go to bed. My father bought us two one-way tickets on van galder's website for $25 each. We had no means to print them, but I had the email on my smart phone and had written down all of the information contained on the ticket for the driver. There's nothing to scan on the ticket, only a confirmation number. Despite everything, the driver refused to let us on board without a print copy of the ticket. We had to buy an additional ticket on the bus. The driver told us we could contact van galder for a refund. I was told today that there are no refunds given, and I could send in a print copy of my ticket via mail to receive a ticket that can be used to travel any time between midway and Rockford (which I've only done this one time and don't foresee doing in the future - I usually board downtown). I will not be using van galder ever again. Though the train to Harvard is a bit more inconvenient, it is so much nicer than these buses. read more

This is the first time i rode the van galder bus to o hare and will be my last. I will also not recomend this to any of my friends and family. The bus driver was late rude amd had an overall bad attitude. read more