When to leave for a show at United Center.

Show night at United Center, Chicago, Illinois. Not sure which time on the ticket matters? The concert night plan covers doors, opener and headliner at any venue; this page is about this one.

Every row is editable. Tap the showtime or any duration and the plan recomputes backward. The first travel row is your leave-by time.

Travel time to United Center

The 30-minute drive is a typical run from Chicago without show traffic (the optimistic number). In the app, set United Center as the destination and Apple Maps fills in the time from where you’re leaving.

Then add for show night: every car aiming at the same entrance (real drive to United Center). Change the row and every step before it moves.

What the time on the ticket means

The time on the ticket is when the first act is due on, and at most shows here the doors opened ninety minutes earlier. With a general-admission ticket that gap is not spare: the spot on the floor you get is decided by where you are in the line when the doors open, and everyone with the same idea is on the same walk in. So the plan puts you in that line before doors, and the stretch from doors to showtime is a row of its own.

With a reserved seat the deadline really is the show. Aim to be in your seat ten minutes before the first act, and budget the walk to your row: it is the part people misjudge, not the drive.

Here is the evening drawn to scale. A maps app can number the drive. The rest is the walk in from the lot, the bag check, and the walk to your row.

Getting to United Center

From the Loop it is about three miles west on Madison. The venue’s own answer for transit is the CTA #19 United Center Express, which runs only on event days: it boards on Michigan Avenue at Randolph in the Loop, makes no stops between Halsted and the venue, takes about twenty minutes and drops in the building’s basement with direct venue access, no weather.

The return runs for about an hour after the event from Madison near Gate 3. The CTA #20 Madison bus runs every day and stops outside the arena. The Blue Line’s Illinois Medical District station is about a ten-to-fifteen-minute walk north on Damen. Rideshare drops and picks up at the Uber Zone on Madison and Wood in Lot E, which opens two hours before events.

The gate, the bag, and the stairs

Doors open ninety minutes before the show. Screening is walk-through metal detectors at every gate, and guests with nothing but a phone and keys in a pocket can walk through without emptying them. Bags that meet the 10 by 6 by 2-inch limit go through an x-ray in a dedicated lane. Anything larger, any backpack of any size: turned away.

Unlike most arenas, there is somewhere to put it: Binbox lockers at the Uber Zone on Madison and Wood, and a staffed bag check at Lot J on Wood and Monroe, both for a fee. No outside food or drink. The venue is cashless. No re-entry, and no smoking anywhere on the campus including the lots.

Doors, lots and bag rules change; the official site is the live source.

Common questions

How early should I get to United Center?

For a general-admission ticket, be in the line before doors, which are ninety minutes before showtime at most shows here. Be there half an hour before they open, and the ticket chip rebuilds the plan around that.

For a reserved seat, aim to be at the gate half an hour before the show, which is what the plan above shows. Either way the walk in from the lot is the part to budget for, and it depends on which lot you got. Carrying a bag adds about ten minutes to that.

What time should I leave for a 7:30 PM show at United Center?

About 6:10 PM from Chicago with a reserved seat with a 30-minute drive and a spot in a general lot. Later for Lot C or Lot K, earlier for a general-admission floor ticket or a bag to screen. Every row above is editable; the first travel row is your leave-by time.

What time do the lots open at United Center?

Two hours before doors. The venue has its own lots on all sides, a dozen or more, and general parking starts at about $22 prepaid through SpotHero. Premium lots C and K are $27 prepaid, closest to the gates and fastest to exit. Most lots open two hours before events; Lot C opens two and a half hours before. No tailgating. The official United Center site has the day's times.

How long is the walk from the parking lot at United Center?

About five minutes from premium lots C and K. About ten minutes from the general lots. The MXC Garage at Malcolm X College, just east of the arena, tends to empty faster after the show. The plan's default for a general lot is 10 minutes, and it is editable.

Can I take a bus or train to United Center?

The CTA #19 United Center Express runs only on event days, from Michigan Avenue and Randolph in the Loop, nonstop to the building’s basement in about twenty minutes. After the show it runs for about an hour from Madison near Gate 3. The CTA #20 Madison bus runs daily and stops outside. The Blue Line’s Illinois Medical District station is a ten-to-fifteen-minute walk, and the Blue Line runs twenty-four hours.

What bag can I bring into United Center?

Anything up to 10 by 6 by 2 inches, clear or not; backpacks of any size are turned away. Bags that pass go through x-ray in a dedicated lane. Binbox lockers are at the Uber Zone on Madison and Wood, and a staffed bag check is at Lot J on Wood and Monroe, both for a fee. No outside food or drink, and no re-entry.

Going to a game instead? The stadium pages. Flying in? The airport pages.

Build it once, then use it every show

Ready Time keeps the plan and subtracts again when the show time changes. Put in the next ticket and the same steps land on new times, with an alert on each one.