Everything in hsmythe's post is correct. I live about 10 miles south of EFD and fly through it regularly.

Yes parking is plentiful and free. They do have regular police patrols and lights. It's plenty safe.

Checking in is less hassle than buying a hamburger at McDonalds. They have 2 counters and 1 eticket machine. You can safely arrive 30 min before departure time and will not have any problems checking in or through security.

You will get 500 miles and a segment, even if they put you in a cab.

They do cancel the flight often for weather and mechanical. However I have left IAH for EFD while they were sending the college station passangers on a bus. Weather was fine.

As for why they do it...One word...Southwest. They don't want guys like me taking Southwest out of Hobby..rather than dealing with the nightmare that is IAH.

They are going to switch to RJ's soon, and they're supposed to get a jetway and everything.

I flew there once during Wings Over Houston Airshow. They had to block a taxiway dividing the static displays to let us taxi to the "terminal" - trailer..in our little Brasilia.

Why do I use it?

The miles are nice.

It doesn't usually cost any more than the ticket fom IAH.

Very low hassle.

The flight across Houston on a clear night can be nice to see (if you like that sort of thing).

Time. A subject of great debate for people who frequent EFD. Counting faster checkin, the flight time, and average connect time at IAH...my gut instinct is that if you would have to drive it during rush-hour, EFD is faster. If it's only the 1 hour drive it should be, then it's close to break-even and maybe 15 minutes longer to go via EFD.