waypoints.now
waypoints / 🇺🇸 US / Des Moines – Chicago Timings are not live · Documented
Route · US

Des Moines to Chicago

2 operators run this water, from 1 h 07.

Every way across

One row per operator and speed. Where a service is sold as fast and its average does not clear 45 km/h, the word appears in quotation marks — the boat is fast craft, the crossing is not.

AirTran Airways, Southwest Airlines DSM → MDW 492 km non-stop 733 73W in the air 2 h 37 est. rate not held 441 km/h average
American Airlines, US Airways DSM → ORD 480 km non-stop 319 738 73G in the air 2 h 36 est. rate not held 436 km/h average

Other ways to reach Chicago

If this crossing does not suit, these quays also reach Chicago without a change. It is the question a single-route page cannot answer about itself and an atlas can.

Milwaukee – Chicago 38 min American Airlines
South Bend – Chicago 40 min United Airlines
Madison – Chicago 43 min American Airlines
Bloomington/Normal – Chicago 44 min American Airlines
Muskegon – Chicago 44 min United Airlines
Kalamazoo – Chicago 45 min American Airlines
Grand Rapids – Chicago 46 min American Airlines
Peoria – Chicago 46 min American Airlines
Savoy – Chicago 46 min American Airlines
Moline – Chicago 47 min American Airlines

And other ways to reach Des Moines

Minneapolis – Des Moines 58 min Delta Air Lines
Detroit – Des Moines 1 h 34 Delta Air Lines
Denver – Des Moines 1 h 41 Frontier Airlines
Dallas-Fort Worth – Des Moines 1 h 45 American Airlines
Atlanta – Des Moines 2 h 00 Air France
Houston – Des Moines 2 h 07 United Airlines
Charlotte – Des Moines 2 h 08 American Airlines
Washington – Des Moines 2 h 18 American Airlines
Newark – Des Moines 2 h 32 United Airlines
New York – Des Moines 2 h 34 Delta Air Lines

Where else these quays go

Also from Des Moines

Atlanta · Charlotte · Dallas-Fort Worth · Denver · Detroit · Houston · Las Vegas · Minneapolis · New York · Newark · Orlando · Phoenix · Pinellas Park · Punta Gorda

Also from Chicago

Abu Dhabi · Akron · Albany · Albuquerque · Allentown/Bethlehem · Amman · Amsterdam · Anchorage · Appleton · Asheville · Atlanta · Austin · Baltimore · Birmingham

Which months this runs

Season not heldwe can say when we looked, not which months run

Our records for the Des Moines–Chicago crossing were read on 11 August 2026 and describe the network as it ran that week. We hold no month-by-month variation, so this page cannot tell you whether a crossing runs in February.

If you are travelling well outside August 2026, confirm with the operator before you plan around it.

What we do not know

No fares. Not for this crossing, not for any crossing, not for any mode.

No departure times. No rate is held for this pair either, so we cannot say how often it runs.