Traveling In Style

Luxury motor coach expands service on popular Dallas-Austin route

Dallas-based Vonlane rolls out new service in 2016.

Courtesy photo

Dallas-based luxury motor coach service Vonlane is rolling out big plans for 2016. In the new year, the company will expand its Dallas-Austin route and add new service from Houston to Austin.

Vonlane is known for luxurious coaches with 16 first-class, reclining, leather-upholstered seats, as well as an array of amenities that allow for passengers to either work or relax during their trip.

Services include complimentary refreshments, Wi-Fi, satellite TV, and desk-like spaces for travelers. You can even borrow a set of noise-cancelling headphones to travel in peace or reserve a six-seat conference room equipped with monitors for laptop projection to take your business on the road.

Starting January 11, 2016, Vonlane will add more options to the popular Dallas-Austin route. A new 6 am departure time will be added in both cities, Monday through Friday.

In addition, Vonlane is moving its Houston terminal from the current location near George Bush Intercontinental Airport to downtown Houston, next to the Hyatt Regency. The change takes place January 4, initially affecting Houston-Dallas routes.

New nonstop service between downtown Houston and Austin, with coaches departing multiple times a day, begins January 17, 2016.

Fares are competitively priced at $99 for a one-way trip from Dallas to Austin and $109 between Dallas and Houston, comparable to coach-class airline fares. Dallas passengers depart the Doubletree Hotel across from Love Field Airport and can book trips on the luxe bus via the Vonlane website.

transportation

Holiday News

American Airlines expects record-setting travel on Thanksgiving 2024

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

American Airlines ready for takeoff.

The holidays are looming and American Airlines is ramping up. Over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, the Fort Worth-based airline expects to process nearly 8.3 million customers across more than 77,000 flights.

According to a statement from American's COO David Seymour, the airline is having a good fall season and canceled fewer flights than its peers during October.

“Thanks to the hard work of our 130,000 team members, we canceled fewer flights than any of our major competitors this October and beat our own records for on-time departures and arrivals,” Seymour says.

That's surely good news. One hates to rain on their parade, but in June 2024, the only flight I booked this year, my flight was canceled less than 24 hours before take-off. I had made hotel reservations, scheduled a pet sitter, planned events, and arranged for a friend to pick me up at the destination airport. One employee speculated that it may have been "insufficient crew." Their only solution offered was: Feel free to reschedule your flight.

Thanksgiving facts and figures
The travel window runs from November 21 to December 3, and the airline expects to carry more than 500,000 more customers than it did last year.

The most-traveled day will be Sunday, December 1. The second most-traveled day will be Monday, December 2.

The peak of peak: 1,035 mainline and regional aircraft will be enroute at 10:45 am on Sunday, December 1 — the highest number of flights handled at any given time during American’s travel period.

The airline expects to serve more than 6.8 million Biscoff cookies on board from November 21 to December 3.

Travel tips
Download the American Airlines app and check in for your flight, noting added any bags to your trip. This will save you time at the airport.

If traveling internationally, download the Mobile Passport Control app, which can speed up your entry into the U.S. Global Entry members can download the Global Entry app, which allows you to submit your entry and go straight to the officer.

Upon arrival at the airport lobby, scan your mobile boarding pass to print bag tags quickly at a kiosk. If you’re not checking bags, go straight to TSA security with your mobile boarding pass.

holidays