American Airlines to Chicago

Hi, we (wife, 3 small kids and I) are flying to Chicago with British Airways (operated by American Airlines) in August. Never traveled to US with the kids before and frankly I'm a bit nervous. I have a few questions and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
1) We are flying from terminal 2 in Dublin at 10am, what time would we need to be there?
2) I have filled out the ESTA forms and got confirmation back, will i need to bring written confirmation?
3) I need to park my car for 3 weeks and also i will be staying in Dublin the night before we travel. What is my best option, long stay car park or hotel car park?
4) I will need to rent a 7-seater car for 3 weeks in Chicago, could anybody recommend a cheap car rental company?
5) If anybody has done a similar trip with small kids, am I forgetting anything, is there anything they would have done differently or is there anything that they got caught out on?

Again any advice would be greatly appreciated.
McFly.

McFly said:

1) We are flying from terminal 2 in Dublin at 10am, what time would we need to be there?

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I was on that flight a few weeks ago. Check-in took quite a while, there was a long queue when I got there and it didn't move very quickly. There are self-service check-in machines which seem to work intermittently but they're definitely worth a try. Everyone was avoiding them when I was there and the staff made no effort to get people to use them.

I think I was told at check-in to be present at US Pre-clearance no later than 8.15am. When I got there at 8am, I was one of the first and got through in less than five minutes.

2) I have filled out the ESTA forms and got confirmation back, will i need to bring written confirmation?

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You don't need to but it might not be a bad idea.

markpb said:

You don't need to but it might not be a bad idea.

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+1 - I keep a printed copy in my passport just in case

3 weeks in a car park - would it be any cheaper/easier to take a bus/train (if possible)?

If you can check in on-line the day before i would suggest doing so, then you just have to do bag-drop. Still, with quesues, the little ones etc. i would get there a few hours before (i.e. 7am) - try to keep stress levels to a minimum for you all, and depending on how old the children are pack little individual backpacks with colouring books, reading materials etc, plus change of clothes just in case!

Check out arguscarhire.ie for car hire in the US. We've switched to using them for a number of reasons

1. Competitive pricing
2. All inclusive price, no nasty insurance surprises on the other side
3. Price includes a tank of petrol
4. When you pick the car up your booking is for a certain category but you actually get to choose the physical car yourself, some might suit you better than others

Airside Park & Fly is quite close and reasonable and there is also another one Express Park & fly

Thanks all for the info.

Flossie - With all our luggage and the distance we have to travel with 3 small kids it would not be worth the hardship traveling by bus or train.

McFly, as an aside I recently booked flights with Etihad to Sydney and joined their loyalty programme whereby you can put your air miles against gifts etc. I noticed that they have recently joined up with America Airlines and so you may be elligible to join up and use your miles towards their online shop. Just letting you know incase it's of benefit.