pack up and go

2 Dallas-Fort Worth campgrounds stake their claim on list of America's best

Spring is here. Let's go camping.

Dallas camping fanatics seeking an outdoorsy spring vacation experience need to check out Campspot's Best Campgrounds in America, which lists seven top campsites across Texas, including two in DFW.

Online private campground marketplace and booking website Campspot analyzed more than 50,000 data points across 15 different categories, including community reviews and family-friendly amenities, to determine the rankings.

Dallas-Fort Worth award-winning campgrounds
Two Dallas-Fort Worth campgrounds earned coveted spots on the list: The Vineyards Campground & Cabins in Grapevine, and Dallas Northeast Campground in Caddo Mills.

The Vineyards, which is located only 24 miles northwest from Dallas, scored No. 5 in the category for "Top Mid-Size Campgrounds." Campspot says The Vineyards is the best place for a "picturesque getaway" with its cozy cabins, a private beach, wineries, and more.

Over in Caddo Mills, which is about 40 miles northeast of Dallas, Dallas Northeast Campground won No. 3 in the "Top Campgrounds New to Campspot in 2024" ranking.

"Experience the best of both worlds at Dallas Northeast Campground, where scenic tranquility meets easy access to all the attractions of Dallas, offering 63 acres of serene landscapes, a 5-acre lake, and a range of amenities including a pool, community fire pit, outdoor grilling kitchen, catch [and] release fishing, and more, making it an amazing getaway for families and adventurers alike," Campspot wrote.

Award-winning campgrounds in the Hill Country
The No. 1 resort in the "Top Campgrounds New to Campspot in 2024" category is Summit Vacation & RV Resort in New Braunfels. The 75-acre resort is spread across the Guadalupe River, providing the ultimate riverside getaway for families. The complex also scored third place in the category for "Top Mid-Size Campgrounds."

Summit's New Braunfels neighbor, Camp Fifo Texas Hill Country, also earned two accolades in this year's awards: No. 2 in the category "Top Campgrounds for Digital Nomads," and No. 4 in the list of "Top Large Campgrounds."

"Camp Fimfo beckons families with a perfect blend of outdoor adventure and relaxation, featuring a swim-up bar, outdoor movies, water slides, and a host of amenities designed to create lasting memories for all ages," Campspot wrote.

Terraqueous RV Resort in Blanco, about 50 miles west of Austin, scored No. 2 in the category for "Top Campgrounds for Long-Term Stays." The resort was ranked highly thanks to its many opportunities for family-friendly activities, such as exploring Blanco's western Buggy Barn Museum, or the Exotic Resort Zoo in Johnson City.

The fourth and final Hill Country campground that came away with an award was Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp-Resort: Hill Country in Canyon Lake, located about 50 miles southwest of Austin. The camp scored No. 4 in the category for the "Top Campground for Waterparks."

"Enjoy amenities like the Water Zone, jumping pillow, and convenient access to the nearby Guadalupe River, Canyon Lake, and the historic district of Gruene, ensuring a memorable getaway for all ages," Campspot said.

Houston-area award-winning campgrounds
The seventh and final Texas campground that earned an award in 2024 was Rayford Crossing RV Resort in Spring, about 30 miles north of Houston. Rayford Crossing scored No. 3 in the category for "Top Campgrounds for Long-Term Stays."

The full list of winners can be found on campspot.com.

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Airline News

American Airlines to take things up a notch at DFW Airport

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

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Fort Worth-based American Airlines is making changes at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), its largest hub and hometown airport, including departure times spread throughout the day.

DFW has an outsized impact on the rest of the airline’s operation and on the journeys of the nearly 700,000 customers the airline serves every day across its global network. More customers and more bags travel and connect through DFW every day than any other airport in American's network. What's good for DFW is good for everyone.

More banks
For more than a decade, American’s schedule at DFW has been concentrated across nine banks, or large clusters of flights across the operating day. As all airline bank structures do, this times large groups of flights together, coordinating arrivals and departures, and ultimately, coordinating quick and seamless connections.

Beginning in April — and visible in the airline’s schedules starting December 27 — American’s DFW operation is evolving to a 13-bank structure, providing more certainty to the airline’s average 100,000 peak daily customers traveling on the more than 930 average peak DFW daily departing flights.

With this structural schedule change, customers will find more departure options in highly desired time windows and fewer early morning departures to DFW.

American is also making an investment in block time for flights to and from DFW. (Block time is the total scheduled time between pushback from the departure gate to arrival at the destination gate.) The goal is more on-time departures, which lead to more on-time arrivals and fewer delays.

Connections
They're also working on improving connection times, making it easier to connect through DFW. The new structure should reduce the concentration of very short connection times.

Customers on the go such as business travelers can still book tight connections when time matters — but the schedule enhancements will now provide more options for a stress-free experience with more time between flights. Reflowing their schedule means fewer air traffic delays and more on-time departures and arrivals.

By spreading out its DFW flight schedule across the day, the airline is also spreading out customer volume, including everything from local customers arriving in parking garages, checking in at lobbies, and clearing security, to connecting customers making their way through American’s terminals to their next flights.

Terminals
Other improvements include modernizing American’s facilities and airport terminals, including Terminal A and C Pier extensions adding nine incremental gates.

They're also adding Terminal F to be completed in 2030, with 31 new gates that can accommodate increased widebody capacity, state-of-the-art baggage technology, dedicated premium lounges, Flagship check-in, and a new U.S. Customs facility.

New programs in partnership with the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection include TSA PreCheck Touchless ID — allowing customers at DFW (and 16 other locations across American’s U.S. network) to use facial recognition technology for more secure and efficient identity verification.

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