Texas travel

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines takes off with new Texas route for $29

Fly for as little as $29 one-way.

Southwest Airlines

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines has wheeled out a new way to get to Houston — cheap.

Beginning April 12, 2021, Southwest customers can fly between Love Field and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental, nonstop, for $29 one way.

Travelers can book these flights now online through June 6, 2021, according to the airline.

The new flights are part of Southwest's new service in and out of Bush in Houston.

Need to continue on from there? Other new destinations from Bush include New Orleans, Chicago (Midway), Denver, and Nashville.

For quick reference, here is a breakdown of the new flights and fares:

Dallas-Houston (Love Field)
Six flights each way
One-way fares start at $29

Houston-New Orleans
Four flights each way
One-way fares start at $29

Houston-Nashville
Three flights each way
One-way fares start at $69

Houston-Chicago (Midway)
Two flights each way
One-way fares start at $79

Houston-Denver
Three flights each way
One-way fares start at $79

Travelers should note that the number of seats, days, and markets for these fares are limited, Southwest adds.

Southwest recently got some new competition from JSX, an "affordable" hop-on jet service that flies from its home base of Dallas Love Field to Houston for $99.

In October, Southwest announced an expansion of service to Bush, a major boon to the airline’s already significant Houston presence.

Southwest first served Houston through Bush Intercontinental on its first day of its operation: June 18, 1971. Southwest served Intercontinental until 1972 and again between 1980 and 2005. The carrier has also grown to become Houston Hobby Airport’s largest airline, offering up to 161 flights a day to nearly 70 destinations across the United States, Caribbean, and Latin America, a press release notes.

vacation

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