Originally Posted by
Toshbaf
Austin has NY non-stops so that makes it acceptable. I am leaning towards that. Arrive Saturday, eat out, listen to some live music, see the city on Sunday, leave.
When are hotels expensive? When there is a large convention?
Hotels in Austin can be randomly expensive, especially in fall and spring, especially around South by Southwest.
I'd check out the schedules for ACL:
http://acltv.com/
And the Cactus Cafe:
https://cactuscafe.thundertix.com/
Perhaps see if there's something that interests you, then check hotel prices, then airfare to get a match.
I've been on AUS-JFK (AA) on my way to Rio, and the fares are usually pretty reasonable (about $250).
There's plenty of other venues also, those just popped in my head right away.