On the road
Vonlane's new bus route from Dallas will get a thumbs up from Aggie football fans
Devoted Aggie football fans who make the long drive to College Station for games will dig this: Dallas-based Vonlane is once again rolling its luxury buses to certain Texas A&M home games this fall.
A service that ran from 2016-2019 but then stopped in 2020 (as the rest of the world did for the pandemic), the company's "gameday Saturday" trips are returning Saturday, October 2 for the game against Mississippi State. They're also planned for October 9 (vs. Alabama), October 23 (vs. South Carolina), and November 6 (vs. Auburn University). As kickoff times are announced, they say, they'll publish schedules tailored to each game.
"It was a natural fit this year to add this back as excitement for college football is in the air," a Vonlane spokesman says.
The rides will depart from Vonlane's usual Dallas terminal, the Doubletree Love Field, and arrive at Reed Arena in College Station three hours before kickoff so pre-game festivities can be enjoyed. The buses will then head back to Dallas five hours after kickoff.
Unlike charters for private groups (which Vonlane runs to other cities for big games at UT, Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, Arkansas, and OU), these reservations are for single seats with predetermined departure/arrival points and times — just like the rest of Vonlane's scheduled routes, the spokesman clarifies.
As for why the Aggies were chosen over the Longhorns for this special gameday service, he says, "Vonlane already has a robust offering for service to/from Austin with our normal scheduled service between Dallas-Austin, Houston-Austin, and Fort Worth-Austin, so we have always considered these as great options for travel for UT football games."
Reservations for the gameday rides to College Station run $105 one way or $210 roundtrip. They must be pre-booked by calling 844-866-5263 or emailing passenger.service@vonlane.com.
Vonlane launched its high-end bus service in 2014 to cater to business travelers. Each bus, which holds fewer than two dozen passengers, features amenities like WiFi, satellite TV and radio, snack and drink service, and leather seats.
Currently, buses are operating with a number of COVID-19 protocols, including a face mask requirement throughout each trip.
Grape Creek Vineyards has three locations in the Hill Country. Courtesy of Grape Creek Vineyards