Aries Charter Transportation

Do not hire this company. I cannot stress enough how annoyed and unhappy I am with the service we have received. After an unpleasant experience a few years ago, I decided to give them another chance — Bad.Idea.
The driver got lost and did not have a GPS system so relied on our out-​of-​town guests to get him to the venue. Then he didn’t know how tall his bus was and almost got stuck under an overpass (Fun!), then — he refused to move the bus after stopping on some black ice to unload our guests (some of whom were elderly and walking with canes). Also he didn’t speak English.
My wedding started 25 minutes late because of Aries Charter. I recognize that this is not the end of the world but had I know that the driver would not know where he was going (even though that is his one job) I would have built in more time for the bus ride.
They’re terrible.
After ALL this nonsense, I wrote an email to Rita, my contact at Aries, letting her know how unhappy we were and I got no response. None.
Aries is a terrible, terrible company that has incredibly bad drivers. Please, oh please, find another bus to get you from place to place.

We hired Aries to provide a 55 passenger shuttle bus for our wedding between the hotel on Michigan Avenue and our venue near the United Center on New Years Eve. Literally 3.5 miles, straight down Grand. Nonetheless, our driver managed to make several egregious mistakes in what should have been a quick 20 minute trip. He was unprepared for a nearby underpass, despite their prevalence in downtown Chicago, and actually made our guests wait while he went out and measured the height of the bus. He also missed the entrance to the venue, got the bus stuck down a dead end, and was reluctant to move after parking on a sheet of black ice, despite the fact we had several elderly guests.
Not only did these errors delay the start of our wedding, but they also added undue stress to us and our guests. I was told by my guests that the driver didn’t use a GPS, relied on passengers to give him directions, and was difficult to communicate with.
Additionally, on the way back from the venue, our driver headed directly into the closures from the Chi-​Town Rising event and then took an alternate route in the wrong direction, despite the fact that we had sent an email the week before informing Aries of the anticipated traffic changes.
We had used Aries Charters in the past for an event and had very similar problems (drivers not knowing the correct route and relying on passengers for directions) — I had hoped that this would not be a problem again, but I am incredibly disappointed to find out that this seems to be a persistent issue. The primary things I expect from a charter driver are to know the route and destination, be familiar with his vehicle, and be informed in regards to traffic and closures. None of these expectations were met and our complaints have not been addressed or even acknowledged by Aries administrative staff.

Your bus #139 IDLES in front of 728 W. Jackson for at least 30 minutes every day. This is against Chicago municipal code and I will write a bad review for you every day until you stop polluting my neighborhood.

My professional association hired Aries Charter Transportation to handle our transportation needs during a five day conference in Chicago and Milwaukee. Aries did an outstanding job and fulfilled every charter. Their staff was courteous and professional. I enjoyed very much working with Anthony George. I would hire Aries again without reservations and would encourage those reading this review to consider them for your transportation needs.

This company clearly does not give a crap about it’s customers! They were late for both pickups, during the drop off they destroyed a 100 foot section of my front lawn, completely crushed my sprinkler system and knocked over two mail boxes! In all they cost my over $ 1,500 in repairs! The worst part however is that over the past 4 months I have left 15 messages, they have yet to return one of them! I would rather drive people around myself than hire people like this!

If I could give a zero I would. I didn’t actually use this company but I was hit by one of their busses today. Luckily I was smart enough to make the driver stay while I had the police come and file a report. Not only did she CAUSE the accident the first thing she said was «I keep telling them they need to fix the brakes» «the brakes don’t work» first how terrifying that they have busses with faulty brakes knowingly out on the road. I would NEVER hire a company who’s employees hit someone and straight out say the brakes on my large bus don’t work.
Not only that she had the nerve and complete uncaring attitude to even ask if everyone in the car was ok, she then tried to somehow crazily justify hitting us! After that she REFUSED to give me her license or information. Had to call the police to come out and file a report so when I go to the doctor for the headaches and neck pain I now have I won’t be liable. This company is luck no one in the bus was hurt but I would STRONGLY encourage anyone considering using them to reconsider how they clearly don’t train their employees and do not follow any protocol for when they get in accidents this company should not even be allowed to have busses on the road. FLAT OUT DANGEROUS COMPANY WITH CARELESS UNTRAINED RUDE EMPLOYEES

We used Aries Transportation for a bus trip from a bar in Chicago to a Blackhawks game last weekend and I left my iphone on the bus. I called them the next day and the employees were extremely helpful and diligent in locating and returning my lost phone to me. I want to thank Lisa and Rita for answering and returning my phone calls in a timely manner and being exceptionally patient, professional, and polite. I would also like to thank the driver of the bus who put extra effort in searching between all the seats until finding and returning my phone. Iphones are very expensive and rarely returned when found. In my experience Aries charter transportation is a very highly rated professional trustworthy company. :)

Leading up to our wedding we had the tough decision of arranging transportation for our wedding guests along with deciding on renting a bus for our rather large wedding party. However after viewing the limo bus options online and being helped quickly with setting up a contract, we knew we had made the right decision. We didnt have to worry about a thing. The wonderful limo bus arrived early to the hotel and even waited on our bridal party to finish with photos before departing to the Church. (BTW — the Limo Bus is gorgeous inside and very comfortable). Anyways, Our driver was very polite and let us not only enjoy the drinks but the different radio stations as well — which helped us relax before the «Big walk down the aisle.» After the wedding there was a slight change in plans and we decided to get some outdoor photos before heading to the hotel for the ceremony, however there was nothing to worry about cause they accommodated us with ease and we still got to the reception on time before it started. Great job. Well done!

Contacted Aries to book wedding transportation on a referral from a friend who does a lot of work with the company. Antoinette was very knowledgeable and offered helpful suggestions. She has worked many years in the industry and was more than happy to walk me through the best plan for our evening. I appreciated her expertise and efficient customer service. The shuttle service the night of the wedding went exactly as planned without incident.
**Best part is that Antoinette made this all come together the WEEK OF the wedding. She immediately responded to my request for info and we worked everything out in only a few days. The planning was fast and painless and everything turned out as discussed on the wedding night. Highly recommended!

I recently used Aries for guest transportation for my wedding in downtown Chicago on 9÷26÷10. They were very easy to work with and very reasonably priced. Aries used a shuttle bus to bring my guests from the ceremony to the reception and then the reception back to the hotel we had selected (all within about a mile of each other). I didn’t ride the transport, so I can’t speak to the friendliness of the driver, but I had no complaints from guests. Overall, it was a good experience working with the folks at Aries.

I hired these guys to provide wedding day transportation for a client. We had two different drivers. The first one was completely unprofessional, yelling at me on the phone, telling the guests that he «bleeping can’t do this anymore» (referencing his job) and acting incredibly put out that he had to transport guests. We paid for him to transport guests until 6:30 pm. When he got back to the hotel at 6:00 he waited for five minutes, decided that no one else was coming and LEFT. Completely unacceptable and unprofessional. When I found out, I called him and told him to turn around and get back there, which he begrudgingly did. The wedding started late on account of them.
On the flip side, Reuben was the driver for the return trip and he was amazing. Kind, courteous, wonderful. If we had him for both trips I would have given them five stars. If you hire them, be sure to request a senior driver. But don’t saw I didn’t warn you.

we used Aries Charter for our wedding transportation.
Our ceremony was in the city and our reception was in the burbs. Half of our guests were from Ohio, and we didn’t want any of them getting lost or having a bad experience while driving, so hiring transportation for them to get to the ceremony and back to the reception was a priority for us.
We researched several companies, and Aries had the best prices and a nice fleet of vehicles, so we hired them. We wanted them to take a scenic route through the city so our guests could see a little bit of beautiful Chicago, and they had no problem accomodating our request.
The bus was on time, clean and the driver was very professional. Our guests were so appreciative of the comfort and ease of getting to and from the ceremony in the city. It was one of the best things we spent money on for our wedding.
Thanks, Aries!

Recently used Aries to charter our trip to a concert. Driver got lost on the way there. Left a cell phone on the bus after the trip and immediately called to collect it. Driver informed us the phone would be fine only to find out it was stolen by the cleaning crew. When asked about the phone in question Aries employee replied with «We do not hire the best people to work here.» So they hire crooks. Would imagine with the low in the the economy it might be time to hire better employees.
Aries was very unprofessional and would suggest finding another charter company for your events.

I have used Aries countless times for charter and transport for special events and weddings and swear by their customer service.
Bar none they are the most professional company I have dealt with for everything from an employee outing to Ravinia to bridal party transport. Their drivers are courteous and prompt and their equipment is immaculate. Not only that, on one occasion when we had a logistical problem, Aries did not see it as an opportunity to gauge us but actually went above and beyond in helping solve the issue by being flexible with our contract. Its customer service like that that makes me feel so strongly about recommending them.
Rates vary but are by far the best quotes out there and they deliver on all counts. If you are looking for an inexpensive alternative for large group transportation, I would highly recommend Aries.
I have never had less than a perfect experience with them!