oldpenny16

Yes, Austin is great but I have severe allergies and can't live there.

DFW suits me fine. Just wish they would build condos at the airport and save me all that driving mess.

bernardd

I picked AUS 15 years ago when the Nerd Bird was going strong.

It's a nice City to be in, kind of an island in the middle of Texas, but if those are your likely destinations why bother with AA? There's a decent service to LAX but the JFK service is laughable, however you can do all of them non-stop on a combination of WN, B6 and AS so why risk connections in DFW? In my experience AUS gets less weather issues than DFW or ORD. Thunderstorms / tornados are less common, as are ice and snow in the winter, which is also a good reason to avoid AA.

reeg2

I live near downtown Fort Worth. Great place to live - 25 mins to the airport almost 100% of the time (using 121 and TX-10) and a direct flight, several times daily to basically every single destination in the US.

I like Austin too - but it's definitely hotter in the summer and the traffic along the 35 corridor is horrendous. But I can certainly see the allure - especially if the extra segment each flight assures you EXP if not already assured.

LNYAUS

Have to chime in for AUS as well. We are fortunate to live within the 78701 down town zip code. Can't beat it for culture/food options/recreation. The trade offs are summer heat/humidity and the I-35 parking lot. The further you go from the downtown area the more "generic" your surroundings.

Upgrades - AUS can be competitive particularly when the legislature is in session in every other odd year (no pun intended) & the lobbyist flock in. However, airport codes should not drive your decision.

Check both areas out and make an informed decision that best suits you and your life style/expectations.

ESpen36

Wirelessly posted (Apple iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_1_4 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B350 Safari/8536.25)

Agreed. Austin is most definitely not Texas. Anyone who has spent any time in Austin can explain why, but it should be rather self-evident.

worldtraveler19

Depending where you fly--- especially internationally, you will find out most fares a few dollars lower originating in AUS vs originating in DFW.... and certainly the domestic upgrade priority is a plus-- if you are going to fly long haul a lot, it is nice to land in DFW and go home/work after customs and immigration rather than rechecking bags and doing security and flying again. Aside from that-- Austin is a hipper city than Dallas---and you are in hill country and reasonably close to San Antonio. Dallas metroplex however, is a much bigger area and has a lot to offer as well.... I like DFW. but AUS is a great choice too-- much better than Houston or San Antonio for that matter. Austin traffic is messier than Dallas, if that matters to you.

apodo77

Might have more Californians than Texans now, traffic is awful, becoming too expensive and it is running out of water.

austin_modern

Which is why someone moving here should only consider: 78703, 78704, 78701, and parts of 78702.

Edit: I cant remember the last time I went down I35. Its been at least a year. One doesnt need to get snarled up in 35 living in the city.

bchandler02

I've been told by the AC AAngels in AUS that AUS has more EXP per capita than most other cities. Upgrades (as a gold) have always been very difficult there. On the plus side, airport parking is cheaper there, and you still have almost hourly flights to DFW and a few other connections as well.

BRP is right - Austin is a whole different animal compared to the rest of TX. I grew up in that area and you couldn't pay me to go back.

flymeAAway

DFW- you're an unknown entity to the AC staff. AUS- you have an Angel that looks out for you.

brp

It's clearly the life-sized statue of SRV on the river bank...says all one needs to know about Austin.



Cheers.

onesocalkid

I qualify on segments. I will be EXP in September via segments this year and while I will enjoy this benefit, I would GLADLY stay a Plat if it meant having more direct flights and not having to connect in DFW all the time.

The time it will add to 130 segments is substantial.

Oh, and for the record, Keep Austin, In Austin

austin_modern

I always liked the "Keep San Antonio Lame" spinoff.

Dallas49er

One vote for Dallas.

1. West Plano to DFW down 121 in 20 minutes at non commute times.

2. With a traveling job, I would rather be at the homeport of the Mothership. IRROPS can happen anywhere. Weather of an usual nature can happen anywhere, and is not limited to just the Metroplex. Having lived here since 1990, the standard phrase is "It's not usually like this!".

3. Lots to do: World Class Opera & Symphony (with world class venues), professional sports (and the Cowboys ) world class dining of every type and price range, affordable housing, affordable country clubs, etc..

4. And no matter where you end up-Welcome to Texas!

thedoorchick

Austin is very nice. Pretty area, plenty of options for food and culture.

But it's expensive. And I couldn't abide frequent connections. And it's too liberal for me. I stick with DFW. It's got just about everything Austin has and more of it.