Raylene Lewis
Realtor®
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Easterwood Airport: Is the Convenience Worth the Potential Delay?
April 13th, 2008 Categories: Kids, Family & Personal Stuff, Texas A&M University
Easterwood Airport is the only airport in the area, and it is owned and operated by Texas A&M University. It provides both commercial and general aviation services.
When you are headed out of town from Easterwood, your choices are American Airlines or Continental, and currently approximately 85,000 passengers choose one or the other each year.
When you depart from Easterwood, your next stop is either Dallas or Houston and the cost will be at least $100.00 and will theoretically take you a little over an hours time. A drive to Dallas, in comparison and considering only minimal traffic, is approximately a 4 hours trip, and you are looking at
a minimum of 2 hours if you are headed to Houston. Gas prices being what they are, a short plane ride for the money doesn’t sound that bad at all. And isn’t time money to begin with; so why is there an issue at all?
The problem is that if you are flying to or from Easterwood Airport, you are rolling the dice as to whether your little puddle-jumper aiplane is arriving or departing on time as scheduled. It seems that more often than not, the flight you booked has either been delayed or canceled.
If you are flying to Houston or Dallas on a strict timetable with a connecting flight to catch, and your flight out of CLL has been delayed, you now have no choice but to drive like crazy to the major airport to try and meet your connection. Refund for the now useless ticket? Not a chance.
Since the airlines could get you on a later flight, you are now out the money for your attempt at flying from Easterwood. If you are lucky enough to depart without delay, there is no guarantee luck will be with you on your flight home.
This means that you are now stuck at a major airport with no vehicle. The delays usually last between 3 and 4 hours so if you had a car, you would have made it home sooner that if you paid more for the “Quicker” flight back to CLL.
So what do you think? Is the convenience of Easterwood Airport worth the risk of missing your connecting flight or a potential extended stay at a major airport? Personally, I don’t like to gamble. If I have to fly out of Dallas, I’m more willing to roll the dice. If Houston has my connecting flight, I’ll take my car and the 2 hour guarantee.
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I’ve found with travel to or from Easterwood it is worth it if you are going through Dallas but really isn’t worth it if you are traveling through Houston. Easterwood makes it quick to get through security too.
BUT, if you are traveling when the weather is bad or if you are hoping to catch the last flight of the day you may be in for a LONG night. It seems the last flight of the day into College Station from Dallas is cancelled a lot.
I agree…I shop around and if my tripo is cheaper to leave from Hou I book it and drive. If it’s cheaper to fly from Dallas I use Easterwood. Anybody use Austin???
Austin airport is easier to use than Houston or Dallas but I still like flying from Bryan College Station – EASTERWOOD AIRPORT RULES! We are lucky Texas A&M University shares their airport with the masses.
College Station airport is so small. I like how easy it is to get in and out though.