Michigan’s Most Popular Connection Airport Was Named Most Stressful In Country

Over this weekend, I traveled to Massachusetts for a friend's wedding. While the wedding was great, returning to Grand Rapids was a less-than-stellar experience. My connecting flight from Chicago O'hare resulted in an extended stay after my flight was canceled. I found myself staying overnight in the airport while attempting to find a new way home.

It turns out I'm not the only one who finds Chicago O'Hare a stressful endeavor; it was just named the most stressful airport in the entire country.

Chicago O'Hare International Airport, according to USA Today, served an "estimated 33.1 million passengers in 2022 and flies to 249 destinations". If you've flown out of Grand Rapids or Lansing, there's a pretty good chance your next stop was in O'Hare. But what makes this airport the most stressful airport in the country?

StressFreeCarRental.com recently conducted a study to find out which airports are most stressful based on 5 metrics:

• # of passengers/year
• Distance from airport to city center (in miles)
• Number of flight destinations
• Weekly car park charge
• Overall airport satisfaction score from Flightradar

What is so stressful about O'Hare?

The reason O'Hare was named the most stressful was because of its very high parking rates and distance from the city, on top of the reasons listed above. The airport is 19 miles from the city (able to be reached via the Blue Line train) and costs a whopping $283.21 to park for a week. Only Washington, Seattle cost more ($376).

After the weekend I had, I can say I experienced some stress at the airport! While technically that wasn't the airport's fault, navigating the shuttles to the different areas of the airport in search of a rental car area was a hike and a stressful affair.